Illiam G'eld was anything but amused at the moment, and for more than one reason. Firstly, it was raining, and if there anything that was definitely going to wind him up it was getting wet when he hadn't made the decision for himself, bathes, lovely, a swim in a stream or hot spring, also lovely, but cold drizzle, rain and snow were just not things that were ups on his fun list. With a slight grunt he looked around him again, the night was dark, there was little moon but his eyes, though more adjusted to the light than most of his kin's, were still good when it came to seeing in the dark, of this he was pleased but it was doing him little good as his.. friend.. was still nowhere in sight. He was waiting for another Drow, a Drow he had known for a long time and one who he should really have been talking about in the past tense.

Feroz was not honestly meant to be still breathing, he had been seen as something of a soft touch by the rest of Illiam's family, and most importantly, by Illiam's mother who really held the family reigns, and so it had been decided that while on their last little quest, Illiam should return, but Feroz should not. This sadly hadn't gone quite to plan, as the quest had taken a turn for the worst and Illiam had ended up feeling as though he owed Feroz, and had this held back from forcing the other Drow to meet his maker... as time had gone on it had gotten even more difficult for Illiam to go through with the orders he'd been given as some feelings... rather awkward feelings that he'd rather have not had kept on getting in his way.

But they weren't important, and he'd carry on insisting that one as long as possible. Scowling again the rather short Drow pushed himself away from the tree he'd been leaning against, he had a hooded cloak on tonight, a dark grey colour to stop even the limited light of the night from reflecting badly on his white hair, it was habit for him to stay hidden.. where was he though, where was Feroz.. for his own good he'd better show up soon as they were going to need all the time the could to work out how to bring his partner back down into the underdark...

An faint clatter of a small stone flipped across wet leaves anounced the arrival of the other drow, though raised the question of weather or not he were being careless, or merely unconcerned with whatever threats might be aroused by noting his presence in the woods.
He emerged from the shadows a few moments later, likewise hooded, back in the leather armor he hadn't worn in quite some time. Better, he'd reasoned, than wearing Labthrnthian court garments.

Illiam looked sharply for a moment in the direction the stone had come from before rolling his eyes,
"Careless as ever.." he muttered just about loud enough to be heard by his companion, he was feeling slightly irritable, it had to be said,
"You took your time of course.." the shorter Drow stated to his taller friend,
"by Lolth how are we going to do this anyway.." it seemed almost silly really to try and sneak his rather obvious friend back into the underdark, it wasn't as if Feroz was especially diminutive in stature, but they might still get lucky he supposed, and have him not be noticed.
"If I wasn't so fed up with the light up here I wouldn't go back, but I can''t stand it.. and all the hideous little creatures.." Illiam shook his head..
"I case you hadn't guess my mood isn't exactly sunny tonight... why on earth did it have to rain..?" he looked up at his friend again,
"Still, the armour definately suites you better than that frocked thing you were wearing before I have to say..."

"The armor is also easier to move in." He admitted. Large in part, he made fairly little sound save for the faint sounds of his well used leather armor and it's heavy 'skirt', designed to distract and draw the eye. "But it makes me stand out no less. My scars alone are familiar to some." He admitted, frowning. He debated flicking a chain to startle the assassin, to prove he was not at all careless, merely discontent, thoughtful, and anxious, but it wouldn't do much good.
"...I don't see myself as a traitor to Lollth I'll have you know." He grumped. "...and one might argue, that perhaps neither does she, as I still have two legs, not eight. Perhaps you should take that into your equations."

"I suppose it can't be argued that you're legs are still only two in number.." Illiam stated, looking over at his friend,
"Lets just hope the priestesses and their underlings choose to take that point to heart as well hmm..?" he shook his head,
"Had I half the brain I like to claim to have I'd have damned the favour you did me and offed you anyway.." he muttered, it was a continual source of annoyance that a spot in his make up, softer than he would have really liked had formed around his feelings for Feroz which made the cold heartless hatred he had been aiming for when they'd left together really hard to hang onto. It would have been all well and good of course if the notion of wanting or needing something that might make things difficult was so anti to Illiams innate make up, and he was such a strong believer in self preservation, that his inability to finish his job, and the fact he didn't even want to any more, very hard to to deal with.
"We need a plan." Illiam stated, his tone much friendlier than he had meant it to sound,
"Because going back to the G'eld house is out of the question, mother will have us both bound and sacrificed before you can even mutter Lolths name..."

"We could, I suppose, move to seek sanctuary in a rival house...dangerous though. It would take a very bold or a very powerful house to openly take in two that have earned the darker attentions of house G'eld." He admitted, thumbing at one of the chains wrapped around his forearms. Not marks of any sort of imprisonment, they were his weapon of choice, and he used them with skill. "Though it's possible that one might make such a gamble. We have two things others might desire. Our skills, and our information. You in particular are dangerous, since you know very well how house G'eld operates and what it's weaknesses might be, and being an assassin yourself, I think others will find you very hard to kill." He debated, blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Both his eyes and his size were unusual for his race, hinting at a never answered question as to the purity of his ancestry. "And there are other ways to get by. I remember hearing rumors about a self titled verminomancer and an flesh-crafted gladiator. If the rumors that they even exist are true, they've gotten by without the city at all. Then again, we don't necessarily have to return to even the same city. Being only men, it would be far simpler a matter for us to vanish than for an woman."

((OOC: Ende's Drey (subspecies of drow) Verminomancer Orin and my Flesh Crafted drow Shand. :) Random cameo moment.))

"If I am completely honest I do have some wish, though small a lot of the time I will confess, to be able to return home one day, there are certain privileges to my position in the house that I would miss, at least until my 'dearest' mother manages to spawn a child of more 'noble' gender at any rate..." Illiam looked up at his tall friend and wrinkled his nose for a moment, damn him and his unusual features, okay... so as far as eyes went he wasn't all that common himself, his light eyes, pink really were not seen on just any drow, but at least he wasn't almost giant in proportions. Okay.. so maybe that was an exaggeration but the point remained... he would always stand a better chance getting through a very low gap or tunnel that Feroz would.
He wouldn't have minded adding an inch to his own height though.
"I suppose we can hope as well that Mother will have little interest, she has found more, I've heard to occupy herself since we left, an attempt to wipe some insolent out no doubt.. so give her some time to fully cool off and we may well yet be okay.. though.." he looked down, not really willing to meet a chance gaze at this point,
"I could definitely understand some reluctance to return on your part... the family didn't exactly cherish your existance..."

"...She'd find a reason to resent me no matter what I did, I think." Feroz noted, his voice dropping with acknowledgment of this fact. He'd always refused to acknowledge it before, since there were people of the house he genuinely...well...liked. As un-drowish a sentiment as that was, he was fond of them, and enjoyed working with them. Like Illiam. In spite of their almost constant verbal battles there was something to the smaller drow he found pleasant. Most of the time at any rate.
"And since she's clearly moved to find grounds to kill me over these feelings, that disinclines me from seeking to work with the house of G'eld again while she remains in power." He glanced away, frowning, not sure how best to handle this. It was a dilema to be sure. "Which is a problem in and of itself. She could well take to the idea of me looking to work elsewhere as a new reason to try again.

"I have to say it would be rather strange returning there without you... I might actually have to start fighting the people I insult myself..." he paused, slightly amused at the notion,
"But you do have a point, mother saw you as a weak link... ironic as you fight with chains I must say, but still..." he shook his head,
"I think we would be foolish to even think of her losing power... she has a number of strong Drow loyal to her, as alien as that concept should be to us I suppose.. I don't know..." Illiam shook his head,
"Sometimes I wonder if so long chasing you around the surface hasn't boiled my brain slightly... I swear I think less like a Drow each day... why else would I be standing here talking with you?" He looked up at the taller Drow, it was strange how time changed things, as close as he stood to his old partner now he hadn't the slightest inclination to try and relieve him of the troublesome burden of life, no indeed... that want that had been all consuming a short while previous seemed to have all but gone.
"I think making our way to a different area for now might be wise... in a while I will get back into communication with my family and see what is to be done.." he shifted his weight, looking up at Feroz again,
"Your choices are your own, and I think we both know avoiding the family would be far better for your health.. but please... do try to chose a family that doesn't hate mine too much, it would be a real pain to have to try killing you all over again, it takes months to try and get that kind of blood lust back in the system properly..." besides, he really didn't want to be on the opposite side as his friend... again.

"Not that you aren't perfectly capable of it, as well you know." Feroz pointed out. While he was a trained fighter, Illiam was an assassin, and he'd reminded Feroz of that on multiple occasions, and pointed out the number of opportunities in which he could have killed him. It was a little like a game in Feroz's eyes by now, albeit a very serious one, because they were chinks in his armor that he needed to close if he wanted to increase his own chances of survival.
"...I'm not exactly planning on trying to eliminate her myself, though her power probably makes her an ideal target for up and coming houses out to carve out their place in the ranks. No I'd be looking for a less...ambitious house to join, or one secure enough not to need to attack house G'eld and strong enough to protect themselves from it. But Things have very likely changed, the houses we thought were strong and the houses we thought were weak could have changed a lot."
And could they ever...this was going to be quite a lot of work for the both of them. "So what should we do then? Return to the underdark, disguise ourselves and investigate the lay of the land? For all we know, house G'eld, unthinkable as that seems, could have even fallen."

Illiam laughed at the last comment,
"G'eld fallen? Impossible, if it had we'd have heard mothers swearing from the surface..." he smiled in a slightly amused manner,
"I doubt we'll have seen a change there, Arach's inventions are enough usually to hold most Drow at bay... my dear brother certainly has an... interesting mind, I do my best to avoid prolonged contact with it.." he grimaced slightly at some memory or other that seemed to give him a general feeling of displeasure,
"But anyway, I think that is probably our best idea, we can speculate all we like on what will be awaiting us down there while we stand here on the surface, but the only what to really know will be to return." He paused, looking genuinely thoughtful for a moment.
"Lets not go directly to the WestDark however... there is no need for us to go straight to the spiders web so to speak... of she is still after our blood that would be a mistake.. better to go elsewhere first and see what;s happening.." he gave Feroz a very serious look as if what he had to say next was likely to be horribly grave...
"Do try not to clink too much.." he stated, an obvious smile to his eyes that he was struggling to keep from the rest of his face.
"I think it will be nice to travel and work with you, our fights at least had substance, unlike the petty quarrels I've had with my other partners, usually my brothers, in the past... plus, you are rather good at drawwing attention to yourself in a fight, I should commend you on that.." he shook his head,
"Anyway.. I suppose we'd better get moving then?"

"Commend? Or Critisise?" He teased, smiling faintly. "They shouldn't clink unless one of them comes loose. I do try and keep them close enough not to sound like a set of chimes." He added, defensively, tugging at one of the chains wrapped around his forearms. "Although those of us who do draw attention do serve one purpose at least... keeping attention off of those of us who aren't meant to." He winked at this, stepping forward into the mouth of the cave with a swirl of leather. His legs were mostly bare under the 'skirt' which showed when it parted to give him room to move, and looked deceptively light, though the leather was thick and offered him some degree of protection. "Not that I'd be hard to miss even if I hadn't chosen the path I did. Not all of us were born to be knives in the dark. You're probably right though, although it would be interesting to see how things did change, should she ever fall. How would things reshape themselves to fit that void?"

Illiam followed his companion down into the dark once again, it was a relief after the strange light of the surface, but he found his eyes taking a moment longer to adjust than he had expected them to... he'd definitely been on the surface too long, there was no doubt about it now.
"Whether I commend or criticise will depend entirely on how well you're doing at keeping me hidden at the time.." he stated as he followed his friend,
"You're definitely suited to what you do, you're fast, but when you hurry your footfalls are heavier than mine." he shrugged, stating this like it was an undeniable fact, but then again Illiam always had had a rather strong view of his own opinion.
"If mother died I think the change would be minimal... she's driven and to a fair degree cruel.. she has aspiration and wants nothing less than ruling prosperity for her family.. anyone who takes over from her will have to be ambitions which means they are unlikely to behave in a way that different to her.." he quickened his pace a little to fall in closer to Feroz.
"Your legs are too long.." he complained quietly as he walked,
"Still.. the uneasy feeling between my shoulders is lessened now, its more likely that people will be aiming for you.." no matter what he said though it was nice to be around his friend again, and returning to the Underdark with such pleasant company to go into hiding with him had made the odious task somewhat less hard to bare.

[color=darkblue]"Maybe your legs are just too short." Feroz's tone took on a faintly sharp air, possibly because he could practically feel the metaphorical target on his back. Had he any particular skill in magic, he likely would have made an effort to disguise himself, but he had no way to do so. "...You can always return to your house if you want." he offered. "It might be safer for you to do that than to follow me across the underdark. You belong to a powerful house, your mothers reach is a long one, and there's enough dangerous things outside the cities as is. We don't even have a destination, do we?"

Illiam pulled a face as they walked, wrinkling his nose slightly in distaste for what he found himself required to admit.
"Don't let this go to your head or anything, but as far as it goes I'd actually rather stay with you now.." his tone was a little sulky which meant the words, at least as he himself understood them were probably weighted with a little more than was right there on the surface.
"I... I don't.. dislike.. your company.." he stated,
"And Mother shouldn't be looking for my return, it would probably be better for my health to keep my distance from her for a while longer and see how things go." he shook his head,
"I'd rather stay by your side for now. I'll do my best to keep you safe and trust you to continue returning the favour as you have done till now.. you need fear no attack from me..." it felt very strange to admit to that properly... as till this point he had used the possible continuance of his anger as a useful threat and a good way of annoying his companion. What on earth had just possessed him to give it up?