Inheritance Extra
"The ending sucked." Murtagh grumbled as he swung his fist down on the table, a clanging sound reverberating from the sheer force of the Rider.
"Oh come on, Murty," Roran kicked his chair back, balancing precariously, "You're only saying that cause you and your lady love didn't get a happy ending."
One quick spell from "Murty", and Roran's chair slipped on the tiles, and Roran crashed onto the ground.
"What'd you do that for?" Roran complained, rubbing his backside.
"Don't call me Murty."
"You shouldn't be so quick to use magic, brother. You know Nasuada would have a fit." Eragon chastised Murtagh lightly.
Murtagh shuffled uncomfortably and reluctantly apologized to Roran with a quick grunt.
Roran replied back his acceptance with another grunt.
Two-legs are the strangest creatures. Thorn regarded curiously.
Saphira snorted in amusement. You don't even know the full extent.
"But I agree. The ending was terrible." Eragon made a face. "It's like Paolini didn't plan out how it was going to end and just decided to tack on random things together and cook up some nonsensical ending."
"Well, I liked the ending. I'm an earl, Katrina is safe, and we have a baby girl! What more could I ask for?" Roran smiled heartily.
"That's more than I could ask for." Murtagh said gloomily into his bottle. Eragon sighed in agreement.
Roran clasped his arm around Murtagh's and Eragon's shoulders. "Cheer up, cousins. Who knows?" Roran faced Eragon, "Paolini could write a fifth book in which Arya, overcome by longing, steps down from the throne and lets Lord Daethr rule, like she should have in the first place, and joins you in who knows where you went and have her way with you." Then he faced Murtagh, "And you could come back from who knows where to woo your queen."
"That's it. Come here you." Murtagh and Eragon both wrestled out of Roran's grasp and tackled him onto the floor.
The three grown men wrestled on the floor, the two brothers trying to subdue their cousin, who was holding his own pretty well, considering how his two cousins were Dragon Riders.
They were interrupted when they heard a swoosh of wind overhead and Thorn's and Saphira's joyful roars.
Firnen and Rose landed near the wrestling men with Arya, Katrina, and Nasuada. As soon as the three women got off, Firnen leapt over to Saphira, who cozied up against him, and Rose bounded to Thorn.
The three men bashfully got up. Roran immediately went to stand by Katrina, his arms settling in their natural position around her dainty waist. She looked up at him, their eyes speaking all the words they needed to say.
"May I ask what is going on here?" Nasuada commandingly asked, her voice struggling not to laugh.
Murtagh's cheeks took on a rather reddish hue as scratched the back of his head. "N-nothing, Nasuada." Murtagh's voice cracked, causing him to blush deeper. "Just being…uh…manly."
Eragon was afraid to look up into Arya's fathomless eyes, but took a quick chance look. Her eyes were sparkling in amusement, and her lips twitched slightly.
"Yes. Practicing how to fight like a man and such." Eragon supplied, willing Arya's eyes to look away from him.
Roran snorted. "More like being blushing milkmaids about the ending of book four."
"RORAN!" Eragon's face was a bright, blazing red.
Arya raised one eyebrow, at either Eragon's reaction or Roran's information. Probably Eragon's reaction though. "What about the ending?"
Roran smirked at his cousins' discomforts. "Well, more like what's wrong with it."
"What's wrong with the ending?" Nasuada asked point-blank.
Murtagh snapped. "What's wrong? What's wrong? Are you seriously asking what's wrong about the ending?"
"Yes?" Nasuada answered uncertainly, alarmed at the sudden manic gleam in Murtagh's eyes.
Arya looked at Murtagh strangely. "It ends the way Paolini wanted it to end. An ending that's not an ending, but rather, a beginning. To symbolically represent how life is a multitude of journeys."
"Great interpretation, Arya!" Katrina smiled her approval.
Nasuada nodded as well. "Well thought."
"No! It's not well thought! It's not great! How could the ending be well thought when you and I don't GET TOGETHER? After all that we've been through? After my true name CHANGED for YOU?" Murtagh shouted, frustrated, "How could the ending be great when Eragon and Arya's dragons go off and MATE and they just HOLD HANDS? When Eragon and Arya don't even so much as KISS after they've told each other their TRUE NAMES?"
Silence met his proclamation. Even worse: the awkward, stifling kind.
Murtagh clamped his mouth shut, not believing those words had just burst from his mouth. Nasuada looked at him in shock. Eragon was so red he looked like he was hyperventilating. Arya blinked rapidly. Katrina and Roran looked like they were going to break out into laughter any moment.
Murtagh was filled with the urge to run, run away from here and from everywhere. He was just about to canter off when he felt Thorn nudge his mind disapprovingly.
You are a Rider. Riders do not run from battle. Did I not choose you for your courage and valor? Face them with dignity. Thorn grumbled.
"I…uh…I…" Murtagh started to say, try to amend his words when Katrina and Roran broke down, rolling on the ground, tears streaming down their faces.
Eragon was the next to laugh, out of sheer embarrassment. Nasuada joined in next, and then Arya.
Murtagh joined in last, cheeks tinged red, his legs still filled with the mad urge to run.
When the merriment died down, Nasuada went to Murtagh and grasped his arm. "Murtagh, we don't need Paolini to write a happy ending about us to have a happy ending."
"I know. It just makes me mad that he ended the book on such an ambiguous note. Does Murtagh and Nasuada they get together? Get married? Have four children?" Murtagh exclaimed.
"Well, we know we're together, and we don't need Paolini to say we're together to be together." Nasuada stroked his face gently. "We're married, and we don't need Paolini to write a wedding ceremony to know that we've been married for the past two years. And as for the children…"
"We definitely don't need Paolini to write about us having children to have children. Come on, let's go make that vision a reality." Murtagh hoisted her up over his shoulders, deaf to her protests.
"Murtagh, put me down!" Nasuada pounded her fists on his back, laughing. He laughed darkly and ran inside the castle.
Roran pretended to wipe away fake tears. "I'm so proud of my boy. So proud, just so proud."
Katrina bopped him on the head for his impudence. "Why do I put up with you?"
"Because you love me." Roran cooed in her ear.
Katrina laughed, called him impossible, and they two went off into the castle, no doubt to enjoy the delights of a married couple.
That left Eragon and Arya, who stared after their friends in amusement, looked at each other, and then awkwardly looked away. Arya turned her back to Eragon completely.
"Look, Arya," Eragon began, "I understand that you want to wait and see if I really will feel the same in the future, and I'm perfectly happy and content with where we are right now in our relationship." Eragon saw Arya clenching her fists tightly. "Holding hands with you is more than enough for me."
Arya turned around, and Eragon noted a change in her expression. With a small note of terror, he noted that her eyes were no longer coolly reserved, hiding her emotions. They were wild, fierce, and seductive. She was shaking.
"Do you think this is easy for me, Eragon? Don't you know elves are a passionate race despite their great self-control?" She steadily advanced to him, like a predatory cat.
Eragon backed up, not sure what to do about Arya's change in personality. Arya swiftly wrapped her willowy arms around his neck, pulling him close. He didn't dare to blink.
Her voice dropped lower, warm and musical. "Why don't we make a better ending?"
And Eragon passed out.
END.
First thing I wrote after reading Inheritance, finding it rather lacking. Somewhat of a crackfic. Rose is the name of Nasuada's pink dragon (Rose and Thorn, get it? HAHA). Hope you enjoyed it.
I love Murtagh to death, and did not like how Paolini shoved Murtagh aside like some nobody at the end. The abrupt ending of Nasuada and Murtagh's romance was disappointing. I understand Paolini's view, how they could never be together and such, but not even some dialogue between Murty and Nas at the end? They don't even get a goodbye scene? What is this? Also, why on earth is Arya the elf queen? It doesn't make sense. Riders should not show partiality to any race. She should have let Lord Daethr rule. And Eragon leaving…what a stupid excuse to leave Algaesia and never return. More like he was leaving to fufill that stupid prophecy. While we're talking about the prophecy… "epic romance"? What "epic" romance? The Eragon and Arya romance was no way "epic". They don't even officially get "together". Murtagh/Nasuada was way more epic romance than Eragon/Arya. All in all, the ending was not an ending. It just ended. Abruptly. Did we wait 10 years for this ending? No, we did not.
In recent interviews, however, Paolini has stated he doesn't plan on leaving Algaesia forever, saying he put too much work creating the universe. This gives me hope.
Sorry if the characters are kind of out of character. But as I said before, this is somewhat of a crackfic. And who knows. This could be all true (in my reality anyway, cause there is no way that I accept Inheritance as the ending).
