#I pulled a Drizzt and took the cat with me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

space-writes · 6 months

Text

7 snippets tag

tagged by @oh-no-another-idea a while back, thank you! i'm going to leave this one open tag - feel free to tag me to share your snippets!

I'm going to go through the 7 recent files on my wip-list, and pull my favourite bits from each for this, just for a bit of variety today~

cut for length. below you'll find a mix of fic from BG3, War of the Spider Queen, The Legend of Drizzt, and Dungeons & Dragons

1 - drink me dry - (baldur's gate 3, Durge/Astarion)

And they both have missing pieces. Cazador—walking corpse, he thinks, undead is not dead, is not offal, is not carrion—took Astarion’s life and embedded a mystery in his skin as a display of mastery. Someone stole Rune’s life and left him with an empty head and a hungry knife and he doesn’t know why yet, but soon he’ll make that rotted little butler talk.

2 - light me up - (Obsession series, War of the Spider Queen/Forgotten Realms, Vizaeth/Rhylfein)

Rhylfein leans towards him, voice low. “Go on then, Thaezyr. Make me bleed.” Vizaeth’s pulse pounds in his temples. He can’t let go and he can’t look away, and whilst he’s trapped, Rhylfein takes the predator’s chance and darts his head forwards to capture Vizaeth’s mouth with his own.

3 - a delight to be around - (baldur's gate 3 , bard Tav/Gale/Astarion)

“Well, that’s sweet of you, but I don’t drink. So why don’t you two enjoy your wine and I’ll just go…find another bear or something.” Delight, never one to fall at the first, second, or even fifth hurdle, has already planned for this. They smile, and hold up their wrist. “I thought Gale and I could have wine, and you could drink as you normally do.” Gale makes a sort of strangled noise, like a cat choking on a hairball. Astarion’s eyebrows raise. He eyes Delight’s wrist, then shrugs. “Alright. I’m game if you are, Gale.”

4 - many hands - (the legend of drizzt, gromph/kimmuriel)

“My physical body possesses but one set of hands,” Kimmuriel said. “My mind may possess as many as it wishes.” “Four hands ought to be quite enough for anyone,” Gromph replied. No sign whatsoever of any amusement from the psionicist. Only a measured blink and then two more hands manifested at his shoulders; then another two at his ankles. “Eight might be called showy, my teacher.” “Do you protest because a mage hand provides you with but one arcane limb? Or because you fear what I might do with more?”

5 - untitled praise kink breakdown fic - (Obsession series, War of the Spider Queen/Forgotten Realms, Vizaeth/Rhylfein)

“Hey, shh, come here.” Rhylfein is still stroking his hair. He’d be disgusted if he knew how Vizaeth got it. He’s not good, he’s not perfect, he’s not beautiful; he’s a freak. A patchwork of scars and necromancy posing as a boy.

6 - untitled degradation kink fic - (Obsession series, War of the Spider Queen/Forgotten Realms, Vizaeth/Rhylfein)

He doesn’t like being on top like this, but he likes how Rhylfein’s hair fans out around his head, a tangle of red. He’s not going to tell him that—he’s learned quickly how little Rhylfein enjoys compliments. For whatever reason, anything that would make Vizaeth squirm with suppressed pleasure make Rhylfein recoil in disgust.

7 - sacrificium - (Dark Ascendance campaign fic, experimental BBEG OC backstory fic)

the magic that blooms with her adolesence is unsightly. untrained, unwanted, unpredictable—burnt hands, broken plates and shattered windows. matron shouts and sisters sneer and zeerith—magicless, forgotten—zeerith salves her burns and repairs the plates and sweeps the glass. he has nothing, and what she has is not worth having, so together they are less than any t’sonri should be.

#writeblr #tag games #7 snippets tag #fanfiction #snippets #wip #fic wip #bg3 fic #dnd fic #oc fic #obsession fic blogging #c: rune #c: delight #c: vizaeth thaezyr #c: rhylfein dyrr #c: elvrae t'sonri #these are like 90% dialogue i have a problem #(it's not a problem i love dialogue)#i should finish the elvrae fic i miss her

8 notes · View notes

weebbiscuits · 5 years

Text

Catnip

Disclaimer, I DO NOT own any of the characters in this story. It is a Forgotten realms fanfiction.

Also this is my first time writing anything like this, so I’m sure there’ll be mistakes XD. Anyways, hope you enjoy, and if you have any pointers you want to give me on how to improve my writing please feel free to do so!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jarlaxle stared at the great cat lying lazily on the floor, it’s tail thudding every now and then as it swung it back and forth. Drizzt had left Guenhwyvar with Jarlaxle as part of their deal. Though truth be told, Drizzt was not happy at the idea of leaving the cat with the likes of Jarlaxle.The mercenary had gotten him to say yes be saying ‘It makes more sense to leave the cat here with me and the goods in case something should go wrong.’ Of course he knew that if something should happen Jarlaxle was more than capable of handling things on his own, but he gave in knowing the sooner he could get his part of the deal done with the sooner he could be gone from the city and the dark elf mercenary whom he still didn’t trust. “Guenhwyvar.” Jarlaxle called. The panther turned its yellow eyes to look at him from where it lie, though it made no move to get up. “Guenhwyvar!” He called again, this time more assertive. The cat looked away and went back to relaxing. The drow sighed, giving up on getting the cat’s attention. It had been nearly four days and still whenever he summoned the panther it did nothing but ignore him. He had hoped to learn more of the magical beast, but alas it seemed to the drow that he would learn nothing of any interest from the great cat who seemed so intent on having nothing to do with him. He sighed again and sank further into his chair.

*****************

Drizzt sat impatiently in the back of a wagon. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to be back in Waterdeep to tell Jarlaxle that everything was settled so he could be on his way, and more importantly, so he could get Guen back. It was still many miles to go before they would be even close to the city, and that’s if they didn’t run into any trouble. He regretted agreeing to help Jarlaxle, but he owed The older drow and couldn’t really say no when he came to him asking for his help in a business deal. The mercenary wasn’t asking him to do much, just play guard to a small trading caravan. They planned on setting up a permanent trading route to one of the close by cities. They took some of their goods to show what they had to offer, but left most of their stuff back in waterdeep until they could set up with a buyer. Jarlaxle had generously offered his help to them. He’d stay in Waterdeep and watch over the stuck that was left behind, and Drizzt would go with them to keep them safe on the road. After all, who would give them trouble with a dark elf riding with them? In exchange the caravan agreed to pay both Jarlaxle and Drizzt up front in gold, and if all went to plan and they were able to set up a permanent trade route and get back to Waterdeep safely they’d double the original payment. Drizzt didn’t care about the gold, he was just glad the mercenary hadn’t asked him to do anything dishonest.

*****************

Jarlaxle was beyond bored. He had spent four days watching over the warehouse. Apart from the cat he was all alone, and the panther wanted nothing to do with him. He tried to keep himself busy, but there wasn’t much to do at the warehouse. Normally he’d go out and find someone to share the night with or look at the many markets for some new trinket, but after the first two days he had grown bored of that too. He got up and wandered around as he had done many times that day already. He stopped to open a small box. It was smaller than most of the other boxes and bright blue. Inside it had what looked to him to be some sort of exotic weed. After looking at the back he found a little label that read ‘Catnip’ Jarlaxle had heard of it before as something that bartenders and bakers who had cats would often give them as a treat. He thought for a moment then smiled. Mayhaps he would get the cat to pay attention to him after all.

*****************

It was quite late with only a few hours left before dark, but Drizzt had finally made it back to the city. The rest of the men from the caravan went to one of the many bars, but the leader, a tall man by the name of Dealis headed back with Drizzt to the warehouse where Jarlaxle waited for them. “You know, I wasn’t too sure of working with dark elves when first that friend er yours came to me with his offer, but you guys not so bad.” The man said as he walked next to Drizzt. Smiling he replied “Not all of us.” Dealis laughed and clapped Drizzt on the back as they came to the door of the warehouse. “Yo elf, we’re back!” The man called out, but the only reply they heard was a loud crash. They both ran to where it came from, but what they saw when they rounded the corner wasn’t what they were expecting. Jarlaxle was sitting high up on a stack of drawers and there were boxes sprawled everywhere, most of them shredded. After a moment of silence the man looked up at the drow and asked “What happened, what in all the nine realms happened!?” “Well…” But before Jarlaxle could say more a giant panther came careening past knocking into a shelf knocking it and all that was on it over. Drizzt stared in disbelief. “Guen?” He asked softly. The cat looked at him and made a playful meow and hunkered down like it would pounce. The man hid behind Drizzt and cried out in fear. But the cat didn’t pounce on them. Instead it took off at a run again taking a few moments to get traction back in the direction it came from. Crashes could be heard as it ran into even more shelves and boxes. Drizzt, now with a scowl on his face looked up at the mercenary. “What have you done to Guen?” His voice was grim and his lavender eyes burned with anger. “What makes you think I did something?” Jarlaxle asked defensively from his perch up on the stack of drawers. But seeing the look in the younger drows eyes he sighed and answered. “Well, after four days of being here I got bored and started looking around a bit, and I found this small blue box which had something called catnip init, and because I was so bored and wanted Guenhwyvar to pay attention to me, I decided to give them some. I had heard that it is something people give to their feline pets as a nice treat. I had no idea it would make them go made, but if you think about it, this is all their fault. If they’d paid attention to me in the first place instead of ignoring me, I would not have given the weird treat to try and gain their favor. So you see, I am not to blame.” More crashes were heard throughout the warehouse. Drizzt still staring at the other drow with his grim expression took a deep breath to steady himself. He knew leaving Guen with Jarlaxle was a bad idea from the start. The cat came back and flopped on the floor between the two drow. It rolled about purring loudly. Looking back up having calmed himself a bit, Drizzt spoke. “Why didn’t you dismiss them back to the astral plane?” “I tried, but they would not listen to me.” Jarlaxle crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Drizzt looked around. “Where is the figurine?” Jarlaxle pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it over. “Guenhwyvar.” He called. The cat look at him with wide eyes. “You are dismissed. Go.” The cat faded away into black smoke and then was gone. Dealis finally stepped out from behind Drizzt and looked about at the destruction and shook his head. “You two are fired.” Jarlaxle just shrugged helplessly at Drizzt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought!

#Forgotten Realms #legend of drizzt #fanfiction #drizzt do'urden #jarlaxle baenre #guenhwyvar #my writing

21 notes · View notes

beekeeperofeden · 7 years

Text

fic: everywhere like mill dust

Another fic from this batch of spring cleaning. (This has been in some form of draft since last August, y'all. Shoutout to cohabbitation, who has kindly endured me yelling about it and needing help about a thousand times between then and now.) I posted a link last night, but didn't have time to properly post it here (and fix the em-dashes) until now.

Summary: Polypuddle hair-braiding in a sunlit meadow. Artemis/Dahlia/Drizzt/Jarlaxle. Possibly the most saccharine thing I've ever written. Wordcount: 2086 Dreamwidth crosspost

They had fallen into a pond and were letting themselves and their clothing recover before they went on their way. Cloaks and tunics had been shed and draped over branches to dry in the sun. The four of them lounged in the grass, letting the heat and the light evaporate the riverwater from their skin. Dahlia ignored the mud dripping from her staff and immediately started unbraiding her hair to let it dry faster. Drizzt had flopped onto a sunny patch of grass near the edge of the pond to rest. Artemis was fussing over his dagger, trying to dry it and muttering about rust. Jarlaxle had draped himself over Artemis' shoulders, barely staying out of the way, eyes closed as he drank in the sunlight like a cat. (Artemis had only recently started allowing Jarlaxle to get that close, and Jarlaxle still seemed to be walking the knife-sharp line between proximity and annoyance with uncharacteristic levels of restraint.) Dahlia was halfway through undoing her braid when she looked at Drizzt and cackled. He blinked at her. "Kelp," she said. "Pardon me?" "From the river. You have kelp in your hair." He ran his hands through his hair, trying to find it, but Dahlia sat up and reached forward. "Here, let me." She frowned. "What did you do, tie it in? Get closer, this could take a while." He arranged himself where she had a better view and leaned back. The fingers running through his hair were soothing. From the corner of his eye, he could see Dahlia poke Artemis's foot with her own. "Can you finish unbraiding me? It'll take hours to dry, otherwise." An annoyed huff of air. "That cloth isn't dry, so all you're doing is working water into the grooves of the metal." Drizzt shifted so that he could the others reflected in the pond. Artemis had set aside his dagger and settled behind Dahlia to start untangling the braid with an expression that faintly resembled trepidation. Jarlaxle stretched across the area of grass he had vacated, watching the three of them with a wistful smile. He'd pulled off his boots and was letting his feet dangle off the bank and into the water. "Got one." Dahlia pulled out a strand of green and dropped it on Drizzt's lap. He picked it up and frowned, rolling the green stem between his fingers. "That is not kelp," he said. "That's starwort." Jarlaxle raised an eyebrow and poked at the water with a toe, sending ripples through his reflection. "There is a difference?" "Kelp is only in the ocean." Dahlia huffed and pulled out another strand. Jarlaxle glanced at Artemis, who was concentrating on the red hair in front of him, and opened his mouth to speak. "My friend, you have a—" He half-turned, reaching towards Artemis' head. He'd lost his usual ponytail in the pond and his hair hung in wet locks. "What, another plant?" "No." He reached forward, extricating an iridescent green water-beetle from a strand of Artemis' hair. He leaned forward enough to put his hand in Artemis' line of sight so he could see the beetle skittering across Jarlaxle's fingers, then returned it to the pond with a graceful flick. Jarlaxle absently smoothed out the strand of hair he had disturbed pulling out the beetle. When Artemis glanced at him, but didn't object, he ran his fingers through another strand, gently pulling out tangles and separating it into smaller branches. Meanwhile, the pile of starwort on Drizzt's lap had grown by three pieces. Dahlia seemed to have moved from removing plants to just finger-combing Drizzt's hair. He leaned back, enjoying the sensation and absently fiddling with the starwort. "You seem to have overstated the case for your hair," Artemis said quietly. "It seems fairly dry." "Oh." Dahlia sounded surprised, if somewhat distracted. "I just found another piece of weed, though. Rebraid it for me while I get this out?" Drizzt's fingers stilled. He was worried that the request would shatter the unspoken peace that they'd somehow created. But Artemis shrugged and started separating Dahlia's hair into strands. Drizzt eyed the starwort in his lap, then the pile of Jarlaxle's belongings. His hat was conspicuously absent, apparently lost somewhere downstream. He started weaving the starwort together. There was a cluster of birdsfoot trefoil and another of violets in the grass overlooking the pond. He plucked several blossoms and wove them together with the starwort. Unknownst to him, Jarlaxle was struggling. He'd started braiding Artemis' hair with every expectation of being pushed away. Now that he'd gotten this far, he realized he'd used the basis for the braids that drow nobles used to indicate their rank within the house. Habit, he cursed silently. He hadn't done braids like this for centuries, but his hands had made them anyway. He wasn't sure that he could braid something that wasn't somehow an indicator of drow social ranking. If he was assigning a rank anyway... he glanced forward at Drizzt. Technically, this would have been included in the younger drow's education. But since House Do'Urden's structure had been a bit lacking, perhaps Drizzt wouldn't recognize the pattern that Jarlaxle wanted to use. With a grin, he started braiding. As he reached the end of one of the strands, he noticed Artemis cursing under his breath. The twists he'd been trying to include in Dahlia's hair were rapidly undoing themselves. "Having difficulty, khal'abbil?" Jarlaxle asked in drow. "This isn't something I ever learned to do." "Let me help." He leaned forward, rested his chin on Artemis' shoulder, and stuck the end of the braid in his mouth to stop it from unraveling while his hands demonstrated a pattern that would work in Dahlia's hair. After a couple passes, he handed it back to Artemis, who had learned it as quickly as he learned everything else. Jarlaxle enjoyed a moment of rest, then heard a choking noise ahead of him. Drizzt was turned around and staring at him. Specifically at the braid in his mouth. Drizzt's hands flew through the series of signs. Consort braids? Really? Jarlaxle grinned around the hair and signed back. They seemed appropriate. And they look nice. Drizzt opened his mouth but seemed to lack the words. Entreri tried to turn his head, but went in the wrong direction and tugged the untied braid away from Jarlaxle. "What did you do to him?" he asked as Jarlaxle caught the braid between his fingers and resumed his work. "Nothing." He pressed a light kiss to the nape of Artemis' neck. "I think he's just flustered. Braids look good on you." "I want to see," said Dahlia. She turned, but Artemis' hands were tangled in her hair and he was tugged forward with a growl. She raised an eyebrow. "They're crooked." "I haven't done anyone's hair for a few centuries now," Jarlaxle admitted sheepishly. "I'm rather out of practice." Artemis was still glaring at Jarlaxle. "Turn your head, please," he said. "I need to get the other side." Artemis did not turn his head. Dahlia leaned back and kissed him. "They do look nice, even crooked," she said. Drizzt made another noise that sounded like a creaking hinge, then went back to focusing on whatever he was making in his lap. Artemis sighed as he saw all his work on Dahlia's hair had been shaken out, then went back to it. This time he started weaving the stems of small blue-and-white flowers in with it. Jarlaxle scooted a bit closer to the water to be able to reach the hair he hadn't braided yet. Drizzt looked back and untangled his hands from the flowers and starwort. Does he know the terms of this relationship? he asked in sign. "Can you translate?" Dahlia asked Artemis. "No," he said sourly. Jarlaxle laughed. No one but you will recognize the significance, in any case, he responded. He bit his lip. Anything less than this seemed... incomplete. Drizzt nodded, reluctantly ceding the point. Dahlia poked him in the side. "Didn't you mention once that dark elves use braids to mark social class?" she asked. Artemis' shoulders stiffened. Drizzt sighed. "It's a little more complicated than that," he said. "What do they mean?" Jarlaxle winced at the knife's edge in Artemis' voice. Even small things provoked his distrust, these days. Jarlaxle hadn't gotten used to it yet. Drizzt opened his mouth to answer, but paused as Jarlaxle shook his head. Artemis saw the exchange and scowled. "Tell me, or I'm taking them out." Jarlaxle pulled his hands away. "They're the braids used to identify a consort of the head of house," he said. "I suppose the comparable standing on the surface is a lover or paramour." Drizzt frowned slightly. Jarlaxle wasn't technically lying, but he'd used the braids that indicated a highly valued consort, one who had been taken on for their skills and political connections, and who would not be easily discarded. A more accurate translation would have been husband, rather than lover. Artemis looked at him, clearly hoping for a more reliable source of information than Jarlaxle. Drizzt coughed. Artemis glared at him. "That is accurate," Drizzt finally said. "Though he's understating a little." Artemis's eyes narrowed as Jarlaxle's widened. "Go on." Drizzt looked at Jarlaxle's stricken expression, then took mercy. "Depending on what the consort brings to their house, the matron may consider them disposable. The braids Jarlaxle used indicate the exact opposite." "So you're broadcasting to anyone who can read these that they should try to use me as a hostage?" Jarlaxle shrugged. "Technically yes, but anyone who can read these will be so offended by seeing a noble's braids on a human that they'll be distracted from the battle." Jarlaxle tugged on one of them softly, making sure it would stay in. "Kimmuriel in particular would be appalled, but that's specifically because it's you." Artemis grinned. "Very well. They can stay." The patch of flowers he'd been using for Dahlia's hair was bare. He pointed at one next to Jarlaxle's knee. "I'll need some of those." "What are you doing?" Dahlia asked. This time when she turned, Artemis was ready for her and moved with her head. "You will see when I am done." Since Dahlia was distracted anyway, Drizzt took the opportunity to walk around and lean against Jarlaxle's back. He wrapped his arms around him in a one-sided hug, being sure not to obstruct Jarlaxle's attempts to tie off the last part of the braids. Jarlaxle leaned back with a low murmur of contentment. Drizzt placed the starwort-and-flowers wreath on Jarlaxle's head, lightly brushing the tips of his ears with his fingers. "To replace your hat." Jarlaxle looked at his reflection in the water and smiled, tilting it to a slightly jauntier angle. Artemis turned to look. "It is less offensive than your old hat. You should get someone to cast a preservation spell on it so it never wilt—" He was cut off by Dahlia—who had managed to get a good look at her braid while he was snarking—spinning and tackling him. "I was removing plants from Drizzt's hair," she said, fingers dancing over the exposed skin of his neck and stomach. "Why would you add plants to mine?" Rather than respond, he squirmed and tried to tickle back, only slightly impeded by trying to avoid defend all points of vulnerability. "You can't trick someone into being married to you," Drizzt said in Jarlaxle's ear. He could feel as Jarlaxle's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, though whether at the statement or the intense swearing in front of them was unclear. "Of course I can." Drizzt made an exasperated noise into the back of Jarlaxle's neck, which only provoked more laughter. Jarlaxle shifted so he could push a lock of Drizzt's hair (now starwort-free) out of his face. "I assume you're happier without being assimilated into the structure of my 'house'?" "Yes." Drizzt looked forward, to where Artemis was starting to lose the war with Dahlia. "Although, as far as houses go, this one is not terrible." Jarlaxle poked Dahlia in the side with his foot, distracting her long enough for Artemis to make a break for it. "I believe he's also ticklish behind the knees," he said to Dahlia as she scrambled after him. "Whose side are you on?" Artemis demanded as he was tackled again. Jarlaxle just laughed. Drizzt dodged as the tickle-fight got closer, and Artemis and Dahlia paused long enough to cooperate in pushing Jarlaxle back into the stream with a splash.

#au: herding cats #fic

4 notes · View notes

aidahwedo · 6 years

Text

First Meetings

The sensation of air rushing by his face roused Naruto towards awareness, enough to feel the rhythmic momentum of a body moving under his and hands holding him in place over someone’s shoulder.

Had one of the animal masked ANBU rescued him from angry civilians again? He wondered groggily. He could hear low voices but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. His head felt fuzzy, like the time he managed to steal some of Tiger san’s senbon and accidentally stabbed himself with one. The fuzzy feeling was starting to clear up and it was easier to concentrate. He could also make out what the voices were saying now.

“Are you absolutely sure about his identity? I mean you saw the way he was treated.” The voice is vaguely familiar but Naruto can’t quite place it. His thoughts still sluggish and the movement was starting to lull him back down into unconsciousness.

“The kid is the spitting image of him give or take the baby fat. He’s the right age too. Even if he isn’t he’s got too much chakra to be a no name civilian brat.”

That voice is familiar, and Naruto starts fight against the pull towards unconsciousness harder. The tea merchants! He remembers, with a start of adrenaline, they had been handing out samples. They hadn’t shooed him away from their stall like most of the merchants in the marketplace did whenever he got too close, one of them had even given him a sample. It tasted funny but better then nasty bitter stuff Hokage-jiji sometimes gave him when he came to visit him in this office. The meaning of the words finally registered to Naruto, causing him to open eyes that felt grainy and gritty as if dirt had been thrown in them, again, wide.

He had been kidnapped by spies! He had discovered enemy shinobi, they would have to make him a full shinobi now! Then the belated thought occured to him.They thought he resembled someone important! Excitement coursed through him before he realized that he had been taken from the village. He didn’t know how far away they were and with a sinking feeling he realized that the likelihood of anyone other than Jiji wanting him back was not very good and, as Hokage, Jiji couldn’t just send shinobi to look for one missing orphan. Especially one that no one else in the village wanted back, he would have to save himself.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto let loose his best war cry before sinking his teeth into the nearest bit of flesh. Causing his captor to stumble and drop him. Naruto went plummeting towards the ground from the branches of the tall fire country trees outside the village walls from the Hokage’s window. Unfortunately one of the others managed to grab him again before he hit the ground.

“Sage dammit, Jizo, I thought you said that toxin would keep him out until we were out of Fire Country,” one of his captors snapped at the one fighting to keep a hold of him.

Naruto lashed out with fists, feet, and teeth aiming at any soft vulnerable spot he could in an attempt to make his captor lose his grip on him again to no avail.

“It should have kept him out most of the way back to Iwa. I don’t know why the brat woke up barely an hour out from the damn village!” The one holding him, Jizo, hissed back angrily. Letting loose a growl of pain as Naruto sank his teeth into the man’s arm yet again.

“Well, it would be preferable to have him alive, if he is who I suspect, dead works too. We can’t risk being caught and we have the information we came for the kid was just a bonus,” the first speaker stated. Naruto could see him pull out a senbon that been concealed in his sleeve before advancing on him.

Redoubling his effort to escape, he squirmed kicking out with his feet and tried to throw himself forwards. Anything to break the man’s grip or throw him off balance. Hoping that his feet would at least catch the guy between the legs if nothing else. Clawing, kicking, screaming, Naruto raked his finger nails down the guy’s face.

Please someone, anyone, save him. He didn’t want to die! He thought desperately even though he knew that the odds of someone saving him were slim to none. Suddenly as if in answer to his desperate prayer someone exploded out of the bushes into the small clearing taking his captors by surprise. Naruto could see the swirl of a cloak and white hair as the figure became a whirling dance of two long curving blades.

The man holding him turned as if to run only for a low snarling growl above to pull him up short. Naruto glanced up over the main’s shoulder and saw the largest black cat with golden eyes, that he had even seen. The cat leaped down from the tree above onto his captor’s back. The force threw them forward, finally breaking the man’s grip. Naruto landed on the ground a few feet away staring as the black tiger summon’s, for he couldn’t think of any other cat that would be that big, jaws closed around the kidnapper’s neck with a sickening crunch. Chancing a glance at the battle still raging, Naruto gaped as the strange shinobi seemed to whirl and dance out of the way of kunai and jutsu alike.

This was so cool! A real shinobi battle, maybe when he got back to the village and he told the other kids about about this they’d think he was cool and finally let him play with them. After all he’d bet they’d never seen a real shinobi battle before.

He started inching closer to the battle to see it more clearly when a grip on the collar of his shirt stopped him. Looking over his shoulder at whoever had grabbed his shirt put him eye to eye with the black tiger. The tiger started dragging him towards the bushes.

He started struggling a bit afraid that the summon was going to eat him. The big cat didn’t stop dragging him backwards until they were under the cover of the bushes and brush at the base of a tree. Letting go of his collar briefly only to bat him gently to the ground with an enormous paw, the summon curled up about him before he could even consider escaping. A breath of air huffed by his ear as the cat let out a rumbling exhale.

Apparently the summon wasn’t going to eat him, but it also meant that he was missing the battle! How was he supposed to tell people about the epic shinobi battle that he had witnessed, been part of even, if he missed all of it?! Every time he tried to squirm out of the tiger’s hold the cat just shifted until he was once again partially pinned by its bulk.

Naruto froze when everything went black as if he had been locked in the supply closet at the orphanage again. Shivering he huddled just a bit closer to the summon, who let out another one of those rumbling huffs and nuzzled his head a bit. The comforting gesture reminded Naruto that he wasn’t alone. It wasn’t long before he felt something warm, wet, and prickly scrape across his cheek and through his hair.

The tiger had licked him! outraged Naruto gaped at the cat as best he could in the darkness. Finally after what felt like forever the darkness was gone as suddenly as it appeared. The tiger shifted just enough for Naruto get up and he went running to see if the battle was over and to greet his rescuer. He hit the person’s legs at a dead sprint, clearly startling them but not knocking them off balance. Looking up at his rescuer, he almost gapes. He had never seen anyone like this person ever! For one their skin was as black as the laquered boxes that Shimizu san sold, though he had never gotten to look at them very closely before getting swatted at for getting too close to his stall. Their eyes were bright purple, and they had white hair even though they didn’t look old. This person’s ears also came to strange point almost like the portrayals of youkai in their human form in some of the mangas that he had managed to find. The stranger’s face softened and in a low pleasant voice asked him...something.

Naruto scrunched his nose and frowned as he tried to decipher what had been said. He knew he didn’t exactly pay the most attention in lessons at the academy but he was pretty sure that was complete gibberish. The guy, definitely a guy even though his features were a bit delicate, tried again with slightly different gibberish. A rueful expression flitted across his face as he tried again and again with more different types of gibberish. Finally he stopped and looked slightly frustrated, Naruto just grinned brightly at the man. He had learned long ago that people frowning or looking frustrated around him usually ended up badly for him. Better to look cheerful as if it didn’t bother him. He heard the man sigh and saw the man point towards himself before slowly saying, “Drizzt Do’urden.”

It sounded funny, the sounds not translating until it dawned on him that that must be the shinobi’s name. He sounded the family name out to himself, well as close as could to it. Hopefully he wouldn’t be mad at the slightly mangled pronunciation, “Do-ri-tsu, Do-ri-tsu.”

It took Naruto a few moments to realize that the man was pointing towards him in a now you gesture. Realizing that the man wanted Naruto’s name, he smiled widely and answered, “Uzumaki Naruto ‘ttebayo!”

He couldn’t help the excited waving of his arms and the little jump that he gave as he said it. He had so many questions. Maybe the guy could understand what Naruto said, even if he spoke funny? Only one way to find out.

“Hey mister, why do you talk funny? Is the tiger your summons? Is it a boy or a girl?” he asked unable to stop himself as he watched the man, rifle through the spies’ belongings. Naruto noticed that he took anything that resembled rations and any currency that they had but left the weapons. That wasn’t good field dressing, they hadn’t covered it in the academy but Naruto had hung around outside enough shinobi bars or resturants jounin frequented to over hear all sorts of useful information.

“You’re not doing that right, always take the weapons, you never know when you might need them. Are you a missing nin? Do you belong to a village? Will you take me back to Konoha? I’m sure that JIji would let you stay if you need a home. After all you saved me so you must be good.” Naruto continued. Drizzt was really nice, he hadn’t told him to shut up yet or told him to go away. He even asked for Naruto’s name. He hoped that Drizzt would stay in Konoha, it would be nice to have someone other than Teuchi san, his daughter, and Jiji in the village that was nice. He watched Drizzt turn and pet the black tiger’s head murmuring something in that gibberish. The tiger faded away as if it had never been there all. He had so been right, the tiger was a summon animal, just like in Hokage-jiji’s stories!

There was no warning, as soon as the tiger faded from sight, ANBU ghosted out of the forest surrounding them. Naruto recognized the one in the tiger mask and the one in the dog mask as two that occasionally stepped in when the villagers got really nasty.

“Hey Tiger-san, I was kidnapped! Doritsu rescued me! It was so cool, he has a really awesome black tiger summons,” Naruto excitedly babbled at the friendlier of the two familiar ANBU.

“They thought I looked like someone important but I started to fight back because I didn’t think anyone would come after me and they were going to kill me because I woke up too soon. I was fighting too much and then Doritsu just burst out of the bushes, he didn’t even need to use any super cool jutsus! The tiger dragged me into the bushes and sat on me, so I couldn’t see the fight, which was no fair! How am I supposed to tell about the epic shinobi battle I saw when I didn’t get to see the end of it?” Naruto took a breath before continuing on, not letting the ANBU get a word in edgewise.

“Then things got dark, like locked in the closet dark. Then everything got bright again. I don’t know how long it was dark for, but i wasn’t scared. Doritsu talks funny. I can’t understand him at all he only talks gibberish, I only know his name because he was pointing to himself when he said it. He’s still really nic...” Naruto trailed off as he noticed the ANBU tense suddenly. Looking around for the threat he saw Drizzt raising his hands slowly palms out fingers spread in surrender.

That wasn’t right! Drizzt wasn’t an enemy. He had saved Naruto and he was nice. Turning back to the tiger masked Anbu he frowned mulishly.

“Stop it! He’s a good guy! He saved me, even if he talks funny. Let me tell Jiji, he’s not a bad guy. Jiji will understand that he’s not a bad guy, so stop it!” He cried out fists clenched. He couldn’t let them hurt one of the few people who had been nice to him. The tiger masked shinobi sighed in a voice muffled by porcelain, “Uzumaki kun, even if he saved you we don’t know who he is, where his allegiances lay, or even if he is missing nin.”

Naruto frowned and scrunched his nose as he tried to figure out the meaning of one word, “What does allegiance mean?’

It was the dog masked shinobi that answered, “It means loyalty, kid.”

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the man’s gruff answer.

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” He demanded of Tiger. Noticing that the other ANBU had started inching closer and tighter as the conversation had been going, Naruto ran, planting himself between as many of them and Drizzt as possible arm crossed and eyes narrowed in a defiant glare.

“Look kid as long Doritsu cooperates and comes quietly without trouble, we’ll take him back to the village with us. After asking a few questions if you’re right and he isn’t an enemy or a spy then we’ll talk to Hokage sama about letting him stay. Sound good, brat.” An unfamiliar ANBU in a bear mask said with an exasperated sigh. Naruto straightened, that was all right then. They would see that Drizzt san was a good guy! Then he could live in the village, maybe he could even live with Naruto in his apartment.

**************************

Notes:

For those not familiar with Japanese and or the Naruto ‘verse

Jiji- translates into Old Man or Grandpa

When introducing one’s self the family/last name is presented first not the individual’s first name. So Naruto thinks that Drizzt is his family name and that Do’Urden is his first name. This will be a running joke through the story, with much embarrassment and horror on both sides when the mistake is figured out.

ANBU stands for Ansatsu-Senjutsu-Tokushu-Butai literally meaning Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, they are basically the black ops of the village.

Also Naruto keeps calling Guenhwyvar a tiger because as far we’ve been shown in the Naruto ‘verse panthers/leopards are not known however tigers are and are native to Fire Country so that would be the only cat that he knows gets that big.

#my writing #Though I Wander I am not Lost #crossover #Naruto Legend of Drizzt

0 notes