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artemis-entreri · 5 years

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[[ This post contains Part 7 of my review/analysis of the Forgotten Realms/Drizzt novel, Boundless, by R. A. Salvatore. As such, the entirety of this post’s content is OOC. ]]

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Generations: Book 2 | Legend of Drizzt #35 (#32 if not counting The Sellswords)

Publisher: Harper Collins (September 10, 2019)

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Additional Information: Artwork for the cover of Boundless and used above is originally done by Aleks Melnik. This post CONTAINS SPOILERS. Furthermore, this discussion concerns topics that I am very passionate about, and as such, at times I do use strong language. Read and expand the cut at your own discretion.

Contents:

Introduction

I. Positives I.1 Pure Positives I.2 Muddled Positives

II. Mediocre Writing Style II.1 Bad Descriptions II.2 Salvatorisms II.3 Laborious “Action”

III. Poor Characterization III.1 “Maestro” III.2 Lieutenant III.3 Barbarian III.4 “Hero” III.5 Mother

IV. World Breaks IV.1 Blinders Against the Greater World IV.2 Befuddlement of Earth and Toril IV.3 Self-Inconsistency IV.4 Dungeon Amateur IV.5 Utter Nonsense

V. Ego Stroking V.1 The Ineffable Companions of the Hall V.2 Me, Myself, and I

VI. Problematic Themes VI.1 No Homo VI.2 Disrespect of Women VI.3 Social-normalization VI.4 Eugenics

VII. What’s Next (you are here) VII.1 Drizzt Ascends to Godhood VII.2 Profane Redemption VII.3 Passing the Torch VII.4 Don’t Notice Me Senpai

Note: This was written before the unveiling of the final book’s title. As such, the predictions are outdated.

What’s Next

While Timeless inspired confidence I haven't had in Salvatore for a long while and made me hopeful for the future, overall, Boundless hammered my heart back down into my stomach. Whereas Timeless felt like Salvatore actually had some degree of emotional attachment to what he was writing rather than making a bid to have his characters stick out in Forgotten Realms lore, Boundless backpedaled from this quite a bit. He has some solid turns of phrases in Boundless, but unlike the ones in Timeless, I wouldn't have remembered them if I hadn't specifically noted them down during my reading. In Timeless, we explored more than the constantly-revisited areas of Menzoberranzan, Gauntylgrym, Luskan and others, delving into Ched Nasad. In Boundless, we're back to Menzoberranzan, and furthermore, with most of the action happening in the same area of Menzoberranzan, specifically, in and around The Oozing Myconid tavern. This is reminiscent of how basically all of the action in the city of Helioglabalus during The Sellswords trilogy is condensed to one area, around the cul-de-sac Wall Way. The small but interesting bits of detail that we were treated to in Timeless about characters that we're so familiar with already, such as Jarlaxle, Malice, and the rest of the Do'Urden family, did not continue in Boundless. Gone too is the Realmsian feel that Timeless achieved, for Boundless feels very much like a standard Salvatore insular and tweaked Forgotten Realms. Boundless hammers the lore-rich and location-rich Waterdeep into something with fewer dimensions than Salvatore's current timeline Luskan. While the scenes from the past are still more interesting than the ones set in the present in Boundless, they don't hold a candle to their counterparts in Timeless. There was heart in Jarlaxle and Zaknafein's past in Timeless, and it felt as though it was something that Salvatore had thought about for a long time. By contrast, in Boundless, those scenes feel rote and rehashed, cobbled together from half-formed ideas. Those scenes only manage to not be sleep-inducing because they don't focus on the Companions of the Hall. While Timeless seemed to take a break from the disagreeable conclusions made in the novel preceding it, Boundless is right back on that track again.

All of the above is pretty bad, but things may even get worse. There are in fact many indicators that suggest some of my darkest fears concerning this franchise will come to pass, and I sincerely hope that's not the case. That said, much of what I say in this section about what might come in the future are speculatory. They are extrapolations based on what I've learned from reading almost all of the over three hundred novels published for the Forgotten Realms, D&D sourcebooks through the editions, and talking with Ed Greenwood and other creatives who have officially worked on the setting.

Drizzt Ascends to Godhood

Boundless still doesn't tell us where Zaknafein's soul had been. It isn't specifically stated, but I think it's fair to say that it definitely wasn't with Lolth, otherwise, she wouldn't send one of the two souped-up version of the Retriever after him. One could argue that Lolth might've done so because she is fickle and chaotic, but there's fickle, and then there's impractical. Bringing something as powerful as Salvatore's Retriever is supposed to be would tax her no small amount, and even a goddess of chaos, especially one whose resources are already spread thin warring with other demon lords, would not do something that's simply foolish. So, Lolth didn't return Zaknafein, and Yvonnel knows that she isn't getting spells from Lolth but she doesn't know who is granting them to her. If Salvatore weren't obsessed with erasing Eilistraee, the obvious answer would be that the Dark Maiden is looking after Yvonnel. That would be the most logical in-universe explanation, but as far as Salvatore is concerned, Eilistraee doesn't exist unless using her as the subject of ridicule and denigration. Eilistraee's brother Vhaeraun is similarly ignored, but at least is spared the dismissal that Salvatore places upon Eilistraee. It's possible that Yvonnel is getting her spells from someone in the elven pantheon, for aside from Eilistraee and Vhaeraun, the drow pantheon doesn't have any other non-evil members. While some of the Dark Seldarine might want to help Yvonnel simply out of spite for Lolth, that's also unlikely, because it's been clearly stated that Zaknafein was in a good place, and in the realm of one of those evil deities would not constitute a good place. But, it seems unlikely to me that someone from the elven pantheon is granting Yvonnel spells, for while Salvatore doesn't erase their existence, he doesn't acknowledge them either. A person who only reads the Drizzt books wouldn't know the existence of even Corellon Larethian, the patron god of all elves, including at one point the dark elves who were turned into drow.

So who, then, is granting Yvonnel cleric spells? It might very well be left as a mystery forever, but what I suspect and fear is a rather convoluted scenario. Specifically: Drizzt, the god of goodly drow in the future, is granting the spells to Yvonnel in the present. Sounds crazy, right? I totally agree, but sadly, despite how many D&D creators warn about how bad of an idea time travel is in D&D, it's not implausible, and in fact, many things hint at the possibility, especially in Boundless. First, there's Drizzt's strange disappearing act at the end of novel that I discussed earlier. This could very well be him ascending to godhood. Second, it's been building up throughout the novels that Drizzt has become a beacon to all male drow, including a maverick like Jarlaxle. In the Realms, the power of belief is what grants gods power, and it is so strong such that races like the kuo-toa have believed gods into existence without there even being an individual to elevate with that belief. Drizzt, as represented by Salvatore, certainly would have enough "followers" to elevate him into demi-god status at the very least. Furthermore, Salvatore has demonstrated an eagerness to do everything possible to his golden boy, and while Drizzt himself, if he were true to his character, wouldn't want to be a god, making him into an actual god is getting pretty near the only good thing that Salvatore hasn't done to Drizzt yet.

What has me the most suspicious that this is where Salvatore is going is the talk between Quenthel and Sos'Umptu about a "spark", one that "resided in Zaknafein before Drizzt". The word "spark" is often used in Realms material when referencing godly essence, for instance, Chosens are imbued with the sparks of their gods, mortals ascend to godhood when a divine spark is passed onto them, etc. The mention of the spark that father passed to son happens amidst a discussion between two very powerful priestesses of what was pre-fated and the intervention of higher powers. It feels very much like the Child of Prophecy scenario in the Naruto franchise, with Zaknafein being the parallel of Nagato and Minato in that his superiority marked him as a potential candidate to fulfill a great prophecy, but ultimately he failed to do so and the responsibility is passed onto the next worthy candidate, in this case, Drizzt. I'm not fond of this possibility because it's completely unnecessary and uncharacteristic. The only reason for Salvatore to elevate Drizzt to godhood is to further erase Eilistraee, to write his own name over the tapestry some more, and I suppose to garner more money from unthinking sycophantic fans who lack the ability to critically examine anything. Drizzt as a god would also be superfluous, for what he'd stand for is already covered by Eilistraee, with what she doesn't cover instead handled by Vhaeraun's portfolio. It isn't uncommon for gods' portfolios to overlap, but those overlaps are more like the intersection between circles of a venn diagram rather than a nigh-total eclipse. I suppose Drizzt could be the patron god of sanctimony, melodrama, preachiness and self-congratulation, but those traits hardly deserve a patron god. Realistically, if Drizzt is to be wedged into the drow pantheon, what would happen is that he would weaken the already goodly forces there. People of the Realms are polytheistic, but many have a main god that they worship, and with that taken away from existent gods, so, too, is the power they get from their followers' belief. At least it's consistent with how Drizzt is written, if not how he is supposed to be, for him to, yet again, be a damaging force to true good.

Profane Redemption

Salvatore seems to have this notion that Artemis Entreri needs to be "redeemed", and his definition of redemption is to become similar to Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall. It's as though he only knows how to write one character archetype, and seeing how he forces all of his characters down the same path, I honestly don't know if Salvatore simply can't write other archetypes, or doesn't feel like he should out of some sense that there is only one "correct" way for people to be. The idea that Entreri needs to be "redeemed" at all is questionable. What, exactly, does Entreri need to be redeemed for? For killing many people? Certainly, this is a sin, but Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall have killed many more, and yet they are celebrated heroes whose every action is unquestionably right. One could argue that Drizzt and the Companions only killed the "bad guys", but by whose definition are "bad guys"? Salvatore's definition of good versus evil is as inconsistent as his work is with itself, and comes from a position of privilege. We're told that Entreri never killed anyone unnecessarily, so really, is he deserving of the same fate as the old lecher, who at best was a child trafficker, and at worst, a child molester? Salvatore apparently believes so, with how the adjudicator "demon" possessing Sharon subjects the two to the same fate. I'm not arguing that Entreri did nothing wrong. He was absolutely a villain. Whatever his reasons might be, he did murder people. He did kill innocents for his personal gain, for instance stealing the life force from passed out drunks in alleyways to heal himself. He does have sins to atone for. However, what troubles me is Salvatore's stated reason for the need to redeem Entreri in an interview during the release of Timeless:

Artemis Entreri surprised me quite a bit in the Sellswords trilogy, in Road of the Patriarch. That was supposed to be the end of Artemis Entreri. Road of the Patriarch was the perfect redemption, that redemptive moment where you could have hoped that Artemis Entreri ended on the right track. But after I wrote the book I got so many letters from people who had gone through similar traumas that Entreri had gone through when he was kid. They said, “You can’t end it here. We have to see him redeemed.” I got dozens of letters from people saying, “Please continue this character. This is personal to me.” And I was like, well, maybe I’ll learn something by continuing with this character. And I did. That’s a good thing.

What I came to realize about Artemis Entreri is that a driving force in him was why he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror without self-loathing: it was guilt. And it was guilt over things that had been done to him, not things that he had done. I don’t think I ever understood that until after I put him on the road of redemption.

I am honestly not sure what to think regarding Salvatore's claim that people who had gone through similar traumas as Entreri wants to see Entreri "redeemed". Young victims of physical abuse, sexual assault, parental neglect and betrayal have not done anything wrong, and while Salvatore is right about people that go through such horrors carrying guilt over what happened to them, I'm skeptical about whether Salvatore correctly understood his fans. My own background falls into that category, and I've interacted with others like me as we desperately tried to make sense of why the universe apparently deemed we deserved what happened to us. With the internet bringing greater connectivity between people, I found countless others like me, and have managed to arrive at a point in which I at least logically believe that what happened to me wasn't deserved. What I know from my own experiences and what I've learned from others differ so much and so consistently from Salvatore's recount that I can't help but wonder if some words got crossed with him. With people like me, "redemption" isn't what we fundamentally want. We want our scars to heal and we want to do it at our own pace, in our own way, to feel valid even though we have trouble fitting societal norms. Trauma victims are often misunderstood and dismissed because they are different, and really, all they want is for that to not happen. Salvatore's "redemption" of Entreri is to make him more like the very social-normative Drizzt, which is the opposite of what a trauma victim would want. In reality, a trauma victim who is being pressured to conform to another's perceived notions of normalcy, like what Drizzt does to Entreri, would react very badly to it. Furthermore, traumas, especially childhood ones, don't simply go away through the performance of some deeds, or even a great amount of deeds like helping others, which those privileged enough to have never experienced abuse at the hands of another seem to believe is the key to salvation. Traumas go away only with the passage of time, and the presence of people in one's life who understand the individual and accept them for who they are, who try to help them be the best version of themselves rather than the best societal model of a person. It's only normal for victims of trauma at the hands of others to resent and distrust people as a whole, and their traumas tend to be exacerbated by being told that they won't recover unless they help others, which often translates into, "I need to help those who will hurt me" in a trauma brain. Salvatore represents Entreri as having gotten past his childhood traumas because he received some degree of fulfillment from helping the people of Port Llast. Furthermore, Salvatore makes it appear that Drizzt's influence in Entreri's life is what led him down the path of "redemption", but realistically, what Drizzt has done is push Entreri to be like him. The reality of what should be happening is actually very damaging to Entreri. If Entreri isn't self-aware enough of what he truly wants, which is the case for a lot of trauma victims, he might be going along with Drizzt, even earnestly, because he's led to believe it'll help him feel better. The thing is, each person's recovery from trauma is unique, and has to come from within; following someone else's path more often than not leads to more damage, especially when it's the path that someone who doesn't bother to understand them lays out for them, as is the case for Drizzt with Entreri. If Entreri is self-aware enough, he should be resisting Drizzt, but he doesn't, which suggests it's the previous example, and that in turn has a lot of dark and problematic undertones, with one standing out in particular: Drizzt's behavior is abusive towards Entreri.

While many were unhappy with the way that Road of the Patriarch concluded, especially back when it seemed to be the last that we'd see of Entreri, it was, in so many ways, a much kinder treatment of him than what's being done in continuing his saga. Over seven decades of enslavement by the Netherese would've deepened his trauma and made them more difficult to dislodge, but Salvatore doesn't seem to understand this at all. It would be less cheap and contrived, not to mention less invalidating, if Salvatore had Entreri's issues cured via magic or psionics. By espousing the belief that anyone can be "fixed" through a set approach, or needs to be "fixed" at all, Salvatore damages more than his own character, he helps spread an idea that will further hurt and invalidate real trauma victims. Sadly, things don't seem like they will get better. The artificial "development" forced onto Entreri in Hero was so depressing to me that it made it hard for me to read anything for almost two years. Timeless was a break from that, and indeed seemed like Salvatore was abandoning that tack, but Boundless dashed those hopes thoroughly. Entreri gets caught as a result of putting others before himself, and while it's conceivable that he'd save Dahlia before trying to escape, him doing the same for Regis without a second thought is a Drizzt characteristic, not his. Furthermore, he'd saved Regis before saving Dahlia. Without intending it, the events that Salvatore creates are actually an accurate metaphor for what happens to a damaged individual who is made to believe that another's path is their own: they unsuccessfully see it to completion, and get themselves mired in greater suffering.

What appears to await Entreri in the future, as suggested by Boundless, is pretty disheartening, to say the least. As we see in the case of the old lecher, "Sharon"'s cocoon, in addition to killing its victims, apparently ensnares the victims' soul and damns it to an eternity of suffering. Furthermore, that cocoon apparently also informs the victims the reason why they are thusly damned. I can't help but feel that the cocoon is more than an analogy, I suspect that Salvatore is employing it as yet another cheap and lazy character development device. By the end of Boundless, Entreri has realized that his agony will be an eternal one, and is due to his many victims. I suspect in the final book, Entreri will be saved from the cocoon, but he'll emerge as a redeemed butterfly, changing the last of his non-conforming ways and becoming another boring good guy Drizzt clone. His reasons for doing so might be due to his realization in the cocoon that he'd have suffered for eternity unless he changes, which Salvatore could pretend is more in line with Entreri's character. However, the entire thing is incredibly artificial. Whatever "demon" possessing Sharon is doesn't exist in FR lore and was made up solely to use as a cheap plot device. Furthermore, the "demon" just randomly finds Entreri and Dahlia. Its own affiliation with the Margaster plot is that it happens to possess a Margaster child, but otherwise, it wasn't an obstacle to a specific goal. It was just sort of there. If there was a situation in which the conflict of judging good versus evil was relevant, then the creature could've been a meaningful obstacle. For example, if Entreri or any other character on a path to "redemption" exposes how the kind of judgment the creature passes is flawed and arbitrary, and then manages to make a step towards overcoming that internal conflict, that would make Salvatore's definition of "redemption" more palatable. As it is, it's just really random and being shoved down our throats. The fact that Entreri doesn't casually toss about the word "friend" like he does in Timeless is little consolation if Salvatore is indeed using the cocoon how I suspect he is using it. Entreri the redeemed butterfly would be truly a tragic and terrible closure for his character, or any character for that matter.

Passing the Torch

The title of the next book hasn't been revealed yet, but I've got a feeling that it will be "Endless". Thus far, "Timeless" and "Boundless" both suggest something without constraint, and "Endless" would fit this as well as following the -less format. I'd like the Drizzt books to end with the Generations trilogy, but it seems unlikely with the name of the trilogy, and even more so if the title of the last book is indeed "Endless". I do wonder if perhaps there's more truth to Salvatore's words that the legend of Drizzt is over and that a new era has begun. He might not have been successful with that in Timeless, nor was he with the endless amounts of tedious recaps in Boundless, but the allusions to the Stone of Tymora series, as well as "Generations" for the trilogy title, makes me wonder if he intends to pass his legacy to his son, Geno. Catti-brie is very pregnant and will give birth soon, so perhaps Salvatore means to pass the torch down to his next generation as his characters do the same. Geno's writing style as displayed in Stone of Tymora wasn't anything to brag about, but there was at least a refreshing quality to it. Furthermore, Geno has shown himself to be what his father isn't, a true ally to LGBT+ folks, through actions such as posting publicly in defense of fans who ship same-sex characters of the Drizzt series. While Entreri doesn't need to be redeemed, the Drizzt books certainly do, and perhaps Geno is the one who will bring that redemption. I certainly hope so, for as it is, I'm back to dreading a reality in which the Drizzt books are the only Forgotten Realms novels that we'll get forever.

Don't Notice Me Senpai

I've been very critical of Salvatore, but I don't hate him. What I'd really like is to respect him, but as his work currently is, I'm unable to do that. In my review of Timeless, I wrote, "I suppose it wouldn’t be fair to Salvatore to completely attribute all of Timeless’ writing improvements to his editor(s). He had to be willing to listen, to accept that what he’d written could be improved". Boundless did backpedal quite a bit, but perhaps he did listen. My significant other has long suspected that Salvatore reads my long ramblings that I doubt anyone reads, for there have been some really startling coincidences between how his writing changes and the stuff I point out in my reviews. I'm not exactly nice about Salvatore, so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't read my criticisms of him, as he's always seemed really thin-skinned. Still, it is a bit scary how things line up, and really, he doesn't have to like me, he can even hate my guts, but if he did indeed decide to even read one of my articles about him and his work and took some of it to heart, I'd completely redo my evaluation of him. To give a few examples of the coincidences, in the past, I'd mock him quite a bit for how often he'd use "six hundred pounds of panther". This has wholly disappeared. I'd criticize him harshly for gratuitous lesbian sex scenes, which have also disappeared. I pointed out that he'd failed at making Timeless an appropriate starting or restarting point due to how much it ties into so many past events that aren't explained, and Boundless took explaining the past to a ridiculous level. I criticized Salvatore for how "magnificent" is used in Timeless, and it's greatly improved in Boundless. I'd chastised his weird use of "fashioned", and it doesn't appear at all in Boundless. These are just some of the many coincidences, and ultimately, I do think they are coincidences, even if the amount of them and how well they line up freak me out more than a little.

On a final note, since I'd berated Timeless' cover art, I wanted to note that the cover art for Boundless is an improvement. The artist has changed, Aleksi Briclot did the covers for the Homecoming Trilogy as well as Timeless, but the artist credited with Boundless' cover is "Aleks Melnik/Shutterstock". I can't help but wonder what happened. Boundless' cover seems to have abandoned the attempt at Sumi-E, which I described as, "if you're going to appropriate my culture, at least do it justice". There's still a wispy and abstract feel to the cover of Boundless, but there's no longer that pseudo brushstroke work. I don't personally care for the art style, but I have no strong feelings about it either. I'm not too worried about my brutal honesty having had any affect on Briclot. While I felt the cover for Timeless was only slightly less of a travesty than the novel preceding it, I have a great deal of respect for Briclot as an artist. His technical skill is solid and his attention to detail is superb. Briclot's Artstation portfolio shows pieces from major franchises like Thor: Ragnarok after his work for Timeless, so most likely, he's too busy with higher visibility projects to bother with Drizzt anymore.

If you've made it to the end, congratulations and thank you for tuning in! As always, I'm happy to discuss your thoughts and feelings about these books, but fair warning: in case you haven't garnered from this piece, I'm far from an unconditional Salvatore fan. I care deeply about the world as a whole, and would love to share with you its beauty. I care deeply about doing justice to the characters, but am not above goofing off with them. My views are my own. I am not affiliated in any way with Wizards of the Coast or HarperCollins.

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aidahwedo · 7 years

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First Meetings (part B)

It had been approximately two days since he had been thrown through the portal and landed here. Cattie-Brie’s anguished blue eyes and last despairing cry echoed by Bruenor, Wulfgar, and Regis haunted his moments of quiet. He was no wizard or sorcerer to just open a way back. Given the circumstances he was not even sure that he was still in Faerun let alone Toril. All he knew was that he was no where near Mithril Hall or the temperate dale that was nestled in the cradle of the four peaks that marked the Hall’s location.

The humid heat and towering trees, far taller and thicker than any he had seen would indicate that if he were still on Toril then he was farther south than even the Calimshan Desert. While that would explain the reason that much of the local flora was unidentifiable, there was a feeling to the surroundings that hinted that this was another plane of existence entirely.

At least, if that were truly the case, it is a habitable one, Drizzt thought.

Settling his crossed arms on his knees as he leaned forwards chin resting on his arms, Drizzt contemplated what would happen should he not be able to find some way back to his friends, his home. He knew that he would continue on carve out some semblance of a life here, just as he did when he first made his way to the surface. But oh, it hurt, just the thought of having lost forever what he had struggled and fought so hard for.

Guenhywvar’s heavy black head settled onto his shoulder as the panther leaned her considerable bulk against his back. That was more comfort than anything else could be. At least he still had her with him, even if he never was able to get back to his friends, his oldest companion was still with him.

A commotion startled Drizzt out of his melancholy thoughts, and caught his attention. It sounded like a child yelling and marked the first signs he had seen or heard of sapient life. He could not understand the language, but that was not surprising, given what he suspected. Deciding to take a closer look, Drizzt could almost hear Bruenor Battlehammer’s gruff voice saying, “Ye got more curiosity than a pile o’ kittens, ye blasted elf.”

Creeping quietly through the under growth towards the sound, Drizzt tried to pin point exactly where it had come from. Gwenhyvar slipping easily through the brush and bushes like a silent shadow. He had just pin pointed the exact location of the commotion when the party dropped almost on top of him into a small clearing. Four men all with the same easily forgettable common features, though he did note the shape of their eyes was unusual by the standards he was used to, for humans at least. One of whom was carrying a small blond child no more than five years old, if he had to hazard a guess.

The child was struggling, kicking, biting, and yelling in a very obvious attempt to get away. From the adults’ irritated and nervous glances back towards the way they had come from, it was clear that they had most likely abducted the child.

That was unacceptable, Drizzt thought, even as one of the men, clearly the leader, barked an order in an unknown language at the one holding the struggling child. Drizzt frowned, eyes narrowing as he judged the situation. The most likely scenario was that the men were slavers, if that was the case then the best way to rescue the child and any other possible victims would be to track the band until they made camp. As if following her master’s train of thought Guenhwyvar leapt silently onto a low hanging branch of a tree the tip of her tail flicking back and forth agitatedly. While his attention had been drawn to making sure where Guenhwyvar was in relation to the party, one of the men had withdrawn a long over large needle.

Familiar enough with poison, it was a favorite weapon among his race for a reason, Drizzt felt the cold rage of the hunter’s mindset snap into place. There was no more time to plan. Whirling out of the foliage that had given him cover, Drizzt gave Guenhwyvar the order to grab the child and get him to safety before giving himself over to the dance of blades and flesh. The first man fell to his blades caught by surprise at his entrance. The one holding the child didn’t even have to attempt to grab a weapon before six hundred pounds of panther dropped onto back and her powerful jaws locking around his neck crushing windpipe and spine alike.

Once thoroughly sure that her prey was dead Guenhwyvar snagged the back of the boy’s shirt and dragged him into the underbrush garnering a startled yelp.

Noting that the child was safely out of the way, Drizzt focused his full attention to removing the threat the other two men posed. Which was proving to be more difficult than expected as the men seemed to be sorcerers or possibly rogues with sorcerer training. Only honed reflexes and his elvish senses allowed him to avoid being pulled into the earth. Reflexively shrouding the area in darkness to give himself the advantage Drizzt listened for any sound that would tell him where his opponents were. The scuff of grass and leaf litter shifting to the left and slightly ahead of him reached his ears ad he leapt forwards as the tell tale rumbling behind and almost below him gave warning to another attempt to drag him into the ground.

Bringing both scimitars to bear in a scissoring motion he caught the man in the throat neatly slicing through his throat. Allowing the momentum of his swing to whirl him around to face the last enemy, his swords sliced through the man’s gut. Giving the man a mercy stab through the heart, Drizzt canceled the globe of darkness. Taking a moment to tear a clean strip of cloth off of the corpse he cleaned his blades feeling the hunter’s mindset draining away leaving him feeling tired and sore.

The child bursts from the underbrush at full tilt slamming into his legs like a sling bullet, even at five the child is as tall his waist.

Human then, most likely, Drizzt thinks and confirms when he sees the child’s rounded ears. Though there is a sense of something other, about the child that makes him not quite sure.

“Are you unharmed child?” he asks in common, hoping the child understands him. Given the way boy’s nose wrinkles and golden brows knit together in confusion over eyes as blue as the sky, he obviously doesn’t. Drizzt asks the question again in Illuskan, goblin, elvish, and in a fit of desperation High Drow and undercommon. None of the those languages garnered any recognition, and he wasn’t even going to attempt to use drow hand sign, he had learned that most of the surface races did not use hand signs to communicate, that seemed to be strictly relegated to spell casting.

Unfortunately it meant that getting the child back to his home much more difficult. It was also solid evidence that he was no longer on Faerune, even if they didn’t speak it most surface races understood common, and a fair bit could understand either elvish or goblin. He could only hope that someone was looking for this child. The boy babbled at him in a clearly questioning tone though he could not answer. Unable to understand the staccato slightly nasally language, Drizzt could only shake his head ruefully. Taking a chance he points to himself and says “Drizzt Do’Urden.”

Shoving the painful memories of the Thistledown family, he motioned to the boy who is currently sounding out his name though the pronunciation is warped almost beyond recognition. When the boy realized that Drizzt is asking for his name the boy breaks into a wide grin.

“Uzumaki Naruto ‘ttebayo!” the child exclaims brightly complete with excited hand waving and a little joyful jump. That at least was far different then the incident with the Thistledown children and soothes some of the old pain those memories. The boy continued to talk animatedly hardly pausing for breath, almost all questions based on the lilting tonal rise at the end. Uzumaki clearly didn’t mind the language barrier or the fact that he was essentially carrying on a one sided conversation content to happily babble away as Drizzt proceeded to search the bodies for any useful supplies. Ignoring weapons that he was unfamiliar in the use of he found some strange type of rations, which would supplement their food stores for a while and what appeared to be currency of some type.

He turned to Guenhwyvar and ran a slender fingered hand over the panther’s head. She had been in the physical plane for almost two days now and he could see that the strain was starting to pull at her form, it was time to let her rest. Though he would dearly miss her until he could summon her again.

“Go home and rest. I’ll be fine for the time being,” He told her gently. There’s a slight heat shimmer and the panther vanishes leaving a small onyx figurine in her place. No sooner as Guenhwyvar returned to the ethereal plane eight figures seemed to melt out of the foliage surrounding them. Drizzt curses himself for allowing himself to be so distracted by Uzumaki’s chattering and field stripping the bodies that he missed their approach. A four were perched on large tree limbs above and four on the ground. It wasn’t the best odds but with a child to protect it was better to err on the side of caution and wait for them to prove themselves enemies. In the mean time he studied the newcomers in an attempt to gauge any weaknesses.

All were dressed in black cloth with what appeared to be bone white bleached hide armor chest plates, bracers, and greaves. The most unsettling feature though were the white ceramic masks painted in the likeness of animals covering each and every individual’s face. Drizzt glanced at the child to gauge his reaction to these newcomers. The lack of fear on Uzumaki’s face and the way he was talking animatedly to at least one of them caused him to relax slightly. These must be some sort of guard similar to the Silver Knights of Silverymoon. Stooping to pick up Guenhwyvar’s statuette he took notice of the way all of the strange warriors tensed. He sighed internally he had hoped that since they had not attacked him on sight that his race was unknown to these people but that did not appear to be the case.

He slipped the figurine into the pouch at his belt and slowly raised his hands in a show of surrender to indicate that he intended no harm. Uzumaki noticing the situation seemed to be arguing with the leader. Though he could not understand what was being said it seemed that the child was arguing on his behalf which while he was grateful for hoped that it didn’t cause problems for the child in the long run. Apparently not getting the answer that he was looking for the the boy planted himself in between Drizzt and as many of the masked warriors as possible.

It appeared that he would be taken prisoner, normally he would flee and hope for a better reception elsewhere. However, given that he had no idea where he was, this was the first sign of settlement that he had encountered since landing here, and the fact that he didn’t know the local language it was probably better to go along with them. At least for now.

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

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timecxtter · 5 years

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one / name / alias. Sie two / birthday. April 12th three / zodiac sign. Aries four / height. 5′’3 (160 cm) five / hobbies. Doodling, rping, n playing videogames! six /favorite colors. Light green, pink, and red! seven/favorite books. The Drizzt Do’Urden novels and Hobbit/LoTR novels ;v; eight / last song listened to. Tim Legend - Soda City Funk nine / last film watched. Avengers: Endgame ten / inspiration for muse. His in-game counterpart, Doctor Who, Drizzt, and Naruto lololol. eleven / dream job. Still trying to figure that out while I’m in college~. twelve / meaning behind your url. It’s in reference to the muse’s SDBH manga counterpart’s sword style~.

#dash games #Out of Hotpockets (ooc)

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aidahwedo · 7 years

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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.

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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

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