DISCLAIMER:I do not own the non-original characters or places from this story.

They are owned by Christopher Paolini, author of the Inheritance Cycle. This is

merely my interpretation of what may have happened after the events of Book 4

(Inheritance).

Author's Note: This is my first fan-fiction, and really my first attempt at a serious piece of

writing. Give it a chance, the first chapter (more of a prologue) is a bit short and

slow, but it picks up in both quality and quantity.

Chapter 1:

Balian knelt and scanned the tracks with a keen eye. The prints told him that Ismira had been over here only an hour before him. It amazed and impressed him that she had made it so far without his help. He chuckled at the memory when Ismira stormed out of the house after her father, Roran Stronghammer, had refused her request to take part in the annual Carvahall sword contest.

The sky was cloudy and it was snowing lightly at the moment though it would turn into a blizzard within two days at the least. He would be lying if he said he wasn't annoyed by Ismira's attitude, she causes more trouble than every child combined in Carvahall he thought a bit amused.

He was lost in his thoughts when he heard a twig break behind him, knowing about the dangers the Spine contained, he spun as fast as his body would allow and bought up his bow as fast as he could. He scanned the clearing but couldn't see anything, he quickly glanced behind him but the meadow was clear as well. His heart did a double take when he heard a voice from above. "Well, the way your body reacted reassures me that you may survive without me in the forest after all. Did I give you a scare?"

"No," Balian curtly replied as relief flooded his body. He knew that voice, he knew it too well to even look up to confirm the person. "Well are you planning to come down or do I have to climb up the tree and push you down and trust me, the snow isn't going to be much comfort."

After a moment's pause, he heard Ismira's voice. "Fine, there's no need to act all grumpy and I doubt you'll be able to push me off the tree Balian."

As she climbed down, Balian located a safe area to camp for the night before heading back to Carvahall in the morning. "It's too dark to safely trek back to Carvahall right now so I think we should sleep right now." Before she could utter a retort, he quickly said "But that's me, if you want to you may head to Carvahall right now. Be sure to give the wolves my regard." She opened he mouth to say something but then fell quiet, Balian smirked at his revenge on her for making him come out on such a cold day. The had a small dinner consisting of bread, cheese and beef stripes and quickly fell asleep due to being exhausted.

Balian was twelve years old and so was Ismira, after the Great War, Roran had come back to Carvahall as the Earl of the Palancar Valley and started to build a city over there. Two years later, after most of the city was created, Balian's parents came to settle in Carvahall. They soon enlisted to serve the Stronghammer family up in their castle, Balian and Ismira grew up together and thus became inseparable. Roran was extremely friendly with Balian's family and thus looked after Balian when his parent's died due to high fever on very cold night. Balian was humble, kind, rash yet an expert with a bow and was pretty clever, Ismira on the other hand was a bit proud of her family and status yet very kind, she had a very short temper but she was the same with the bow and the mind as Balian.

A/N: I know the first chapter is boring but this is my first shot and I'm trying really hard. Don't hesitate to give your reviews ;)