In this fic:

Italics are thoughts

<This is telepathic communication>

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Chapter 6: Reminiscing on the Run

Drizzt desperately strived to keep up with the speeding panther, knowing instinctively that Guenhwyvar was leading him to something of great importance to him; something that needed his help. And since his finely toned instincts have never let him down yet, and he trusted Guenhwyvar with his life, he put his all out effort to keep pace with the long strides of Guen.

As Drizzt ran behind his panther companion and studied her graceful form stretching with the length of her strides, he couldn't help but to think of what a great friend she was to him. She was the only friend he had now; the only true friend that he had ever had besides Zaknafein, his father, who was sacrificed by his mother to the Spider Queen, Lolth, the drow Goddess of Chaos.

Feeling depressed at the thought of Lolth, Zaknafein, and the whole place that he had once considered his home, he desperately hoped that he would be able to find a place here on the surface where he would be able to live in peace and be accepted for who he is and not be shunned for what he is.

As his mind trailed along those thoughts he couldn't help but to wince as he remembered what had happened when he had first tried to become accepted by a family of human farmers. The results had been disastrous. Although he couldn't really blame the children for being terrified of him, it still hurt him deeply when he heard them scream out in fright when they saw his black skin and white hair. The whole family had then later been slain by local monsters.

And then to add to the terrible situation, he had been blamed for the family's gruesome death and hunted down by a group of rangers hired by the town from where the farmer family had lived. Drizzt and the rangers had later come to a sort of agreement when they discovered who the real killers where, and the group left him alone. In his wanderings he met the blind ranger Montolio, who had then taught him the common tongue of mankind and the skills of a ranger.

So caught up with his deep and troubling thoughts, he barely had time to discover that Guen had stopped and was now waiting patiently for him to catch up. Unfortunately, the panther had chosen to stop right on the surface of a frozen body of water. Which inevitably caused the young drow to lose his footing on the slippery ice as he attempted to skid to a halt besides his friend. Drizzt valiantly struggled to keep control of his skidding movements so that he wouldn't end up sliding right into Guen. But no matter how valiant someone is, they don't always end up with the results that they intended. In this case, sliding right underneath the panther and shooting off over a cliff...

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Guenhwyvar snorted in amusement as she watched the elf gracelessly roll down a small cliff-like hill that she had purposely stopped right in front of. She would have been laughing if she had the voice to speak. Who would have thought that a so-called nimble elf could be so clumsy at times? Grinning a feline grin, she effortlessly trotted after the rolling ball of elf.

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Drizzt yelped in a most undignified fashion as he found himself no longer on his feet, but rolling and sliding down a steep hill. But try as he might, he couldn't seem to get a foothold in the loose snow. It didn't seem as if he would be able to stop his increasingly swift descend before he reached the bottom. Drizzt though was not one to give up so easily.

He dug his heels into the snow in front of him as hard as he could as he slid on his back feet first. Unfortunately, instead of slowing him down it just caused him to flip over onto his stomach and continue his slide now face first.

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Kenshin unconsciously placed the palm of his hand against the slash scar on his cheek as he stared in disbelieving horror at the black hawk with red-tipped wings that was perched on the shoulder of the woman who stood coldly in front of him. It can't be the same one! He thought desperately. Though deep down in his heart he knew that is was indeed the same bird that had given him his scar. Although the fact that a scar ruined his once unblemished face was not the reason of his horror. No, it was another reason altogether. The reason why, at the age of 16, he was a wanderer.