A/N: This is my first time putting up a story, so bare with me, okay? If you notice any mistakes, or have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to let me know. :) By the way, this first chapter is basically giving you the low down on my character and part of her story. It's kind of slow, but the story will get better as I add more chapters. ((Oh, and for the first while there won't really be any of the characters from the actual inheritance cycle, just my own. But they will get there. ^-^))
I will only do this once, but hopefully everyone one will get it:
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, places or concepts from the inheritance cycle. That right goes to the author of the books, Christopher Paolini. I only lay claim to my made up characters, which most people will be able to recognise because they never appear in any of the books from the actual series.
Anyways, on with the show!
Story:
Chapter 1: Mysterious Dreams.
A hooded figure ran through the trees, carrying something in his arms. Each step appeared to make him move faster and faster. Even now, he was running too fast for a normal human eye to catch. If someone were to see him, it would appear to be a blur, and before they can even comprehend what they had seen, he would already be gone.
The trees in the forest were rather thick, but ever so slowly they started to thin. Suddenly, the person had reached the end of the tree lines and had busted out into a clearing. The clearing was full of wild flowers, with a small creek running through it. At the very center of the clearing the water from the creek flowed into a pond about the size of a small house. The water sparkled and glistened from the sun's reflection.
Coming to an abrupt halt, the man slowed down and eventually stopped, right next to the waters edge. Kneeling down by the water, a strong draft of wind blew the hood of his green cloak off. This revealed his short, bright red-orange hair, pointed ears, and crystalline clear eyes that were a silvery blue color. The boys' physical features suggested that he was barely seventeen, or possibly eighteen. His beauty surpassed that of any normal man, and would captivate most any normal women.
Unfolding his arms, he revealed the object that he had been so carefully holding on to. The object, whatever it was, was wrapped in a thick brown cloth. There was a small opening on the cloth that showed a patch of deep violet with a streak of sky blue across its surface.
Kneeling closer to the water he slowly lowered the package into the water. As soon as his arms could stretch no farther, he let go of the package. Then, he stayed there; his eye's gazing upon the package as it drifted down to the bottom.
The moment the package was out of his sight, he stood all the way up and began to run off in the direction opposite of which he came. Stopping only long enough to flip his hood back on, he ran off into the distance, then slowly, everything began to blur.
"Owe!" I muttered as I rolled out of my bed and onto the hard, wooden floor. It had only been seconds ago that I had been dreaming about a mysterious person, but just by rolling slightly I had ended up on the floor.
Stretching my arms, I grabbed onto the edge of my small bed, and listened to it creak and moan as I used it as support to pull myself to my feet. Glancing around the room, I couldn't tell weather or not it was morning, or still the middle of the night. Rubbing my hands over my eyes, I yawned and walked to my widow where a blanket was draped in front of it.
The blanket was there for two reasons: Firstly, to stop the light from coming into my room too early in the morning. Secondly, it keeps me from opening my window at night when there are plenty of wild animals roaming around. Twisting my hand and clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth I pulled the blanket away from my window to reveal a bright ray of sunshine.
Morning. Ah. I wondered if breakfast was ready yet as I turned around and let my eyes adjust to the light in my room. My room was small, and mostly bare besides my bed, a small dresser and an old tattered shelf. The shelf had been poorly made of old pieces of wood, and only had one shelf. That one shelf had a bow, quiver, and arrows spread across it. In truth, I wasn't supposed to have the bow, as it was too 'dangerous' for a girl. I ignored what the others said.
Sweeping my eyes across the room I noted that I would need a few more candles soon. There was one candle for both sides on the top of my dresser, and one on top of the shelf. They were down to the end of the wick, and would have to be replaced as soon as possible.
Besides the candles on top of the dresser, there was a small mirror with no frame, a silver hair brush, and a tattered brown box. The brown box held a few of my smaller trinkets and jewelry, but it was mostly empty and for show. A ink pen and a few scraps of paper laid next to the box.
Well, I better get dressed. I sighed, and pulled the silver brush through my hair. My hair was a fair chocolate-brown color, rather silky and slightly wavy. It barely reached past the top of my shoulders. After setting my hair brush down, I dressed in a light colored t-shirt and shorts, and left my feet perfectly bare.
Down the hallway and to the left I found my mother, Anne, setting breakfast on the table. There was one plate for herself, one for me, and another plate at the end of the table. "Morning mom." I grinned as I took my place at the table and readied my self for the food.
"Good morning Kyra." She said as she sat down and ran a hand threw her long blond hair. Glancing at me she questioned, "You don't really like meat much, right? So you wouldn't mind if I had your share, right?"
Looking down, I realized that my plate had two fried eggs on it, with a slice of bacon off to the side. Anne knew me fairly well, and guessed right about me not minding. For some reason or another, ever since I was little I hated the taste of any and all meat. Shrugging, I handed her the piece of bacon, "Sure, why not?"
After eating my food, I excused myself from the table and washed my plate in the sink. Glancing at the table, I noticed that the other plate of food was still untouched. "His food is getting cold. Want me to go get him out of bed?"
Without waiting for an answer, I bounded happily out of the room and down the hall. I stopped right before my bedroom, and turned to the right. There was a door that lead into another room in front of me now. With a few seconds of thought, I slowly twisted the doorknob and slid into the room.
The room was dark, but I had no trouble seeing everything that was in the room. My vision was more enhanced then any other human that I knew of. A bed was pushed up against the wall in the far corner of the room, and there was a silhouette of the person who was currently sleeping in it.
Quietly and cautiously I made my way to the side of the bed. Leaning over the figure, obviously a boy, I whispered, "Up and at 'em! It's morning time!" The boy didn't move a muscle, besides the steady intake of air that moved his chest up and down ever so slightly.
Grinning, and taking in a deep breath, I shouted at the top of my lungs, "GET UP LAZY BONES!"
The boy in the bed jumped straight up on his bed from being startled. Because he jumped up so quickly, while being on his bed, he hit his head on the ceiling. Collapsing onto his bed, he held his hands on his head and whined, "Oweeee…"
"Hahahahaha…" I broke into laughter as I watched him. He was my elder brother, but I couldn't help myself if he got scared so easily. "I'm so sorry Jason." I teased, "But you should have seen the look on your face. It was hilarious!"
"Why. You. Little. Brat. " Jason said through gritted teeth. After rubbing his head, which was covered by short blond hair, he lunged at me. I only had a second to react and widen my eyes before he had one arm around my neck, pulling me closer to him, and he used his free hand to run his knuckles across the top of my head; basically giving me a very ruff noogie.
"Owe. Owe. I give. Okay, quit it!" I tugged at my brother's arm until he released his grasp on me. Of course, I could have easily over powered him, considering ever since I could walk and talk, for one reason or another I was strong enough to over power almost any grown man.
This 'power' that I had confused most in the city. But, some had an idea of where it came from. The truth behind this matter lies with my real mother and father. Anne was my adoptive mother, and Jason was Anne's only real child. I never really suspected that I wasn't her child, always thinking that I got my eye and hair color from Anne's husband, who died a year after I was born. Though, a little over two weeks ago Jason slipped up and said something about my real mother. Anne was forced to tell me everything.
"So, why did you come barging into my room?" Jason curiously asked, forgetting about the promise he had made just the day before.
"Two reasons." I brightly said, while holding up two of my fingers on my left hand to indicate the number. "First off, I had another dream last night, but this time it was a bit different, and felt more…real. Secondly, you promised to take me there today." I emphasized on a few of the more important words.
"Oh yeah. After breakfast, and after you tell me about the dream." He sat back down on his bed, stretched his arms out wide, and yawned. "What do you mean by 'different', and 'more real'?"
"Well, I saw a boy who was…"I cringed at the thought of saying the last word. If anyone knew about this, I would be in a lot of trouble. Also, Jason already worried enough about me as it was, I didn't need him to worry any more.
"Was what? Why do you look so scared?" He interrupted impatiently. A disgusted and horrified look came across his face as he thought of something. "He wasn't indecent, was he?! Though I don't know why you would dream of such a thing."
"What?! NO!" I drew out my 'no' and laughed at the fact that he would even think of such a thing. He laughed along with me, realizing that it was a truly silly idea. Once we calmed down, I sighed, "No, it was nothing like that. You see, the boy had the same crystal clear-silvery blue eyes as me, and he was, um, an elf."
Jason did a double take and stared at me, his jaw slightly open. "Y-your not serious are you? You are! Dammit! This is bad, bad, bad. This makes you even more suspicious.
I shrugged and nodded my head, thinking about what he meant. In some ways, I hoped that the rumors were true, which would lead to a more adventurous life. But on the other hand, I wished dearly that it was just that; rumors, and this was because I knew it would make life very dangerous for me and my family.
When Jason had said that this makes me even more suspicious, I knew exactly what he was talking about. Ever since I was taken in by Anne, the people of Kuasta, the city we lived near, were very suspicious of me. This was all because of my strange eye color, my inhuman strength, the fact that they all knew that I wasn't Anne's kid, as well as the fact that my ears were too pointed to be human, but they weren't quiet pointed enough to be a full blown elf.
Most of the town's people believed that I was part elf, or something of the sort. I had gone around asking about my real mother once I found out about her. A few people had told me that she was a fairly good kid, but was always talking about magic, dragons and elves. She had left the village when she was only seventeen, which was sixteen years before I was born. The day she left she couldn't stop talking about how she found out where the elves lived, and that she was going to meet them.
I thought about all this, and figured that if the town's people knew about my most recent dream, there would be a lot of trouble. "So, why don't you tell me about what actually happened in the dream?" Jason asked, and then had to repeat twice because I wasn't paying attention.
With a sigh of dread, I sat down next to Jason, ready to tell him all about the dream. I didn't spare him any of the details, considering there was no point in hiding any of it from him. He was the one person that I didn't hide anything from.
The front door slammed as Jason stormed out of the house with an expression of fury on his face. Anne leaned threw the doorway and frowned as I sulked between Jason's room and back to mine, with a sad look on my face. By the look on Anne's face, she must have thought that Jason and I had gotten into some kind of argument. This rarely ever happens, no, this wasn't the case right now.
Unknowing to Anne, this had all been planned out. Jason was sure to have a smile on his face the moment he was outside; happy that he was able to pull off the 'angry' look so easily. Once I had slipped into my room and closed my door I let out a sigh and smiled. Mother was never going to let us go visit my real mother's grave. She repeatedly told us that it was in the Spine, and we weren't allowed there because it was far too dangerous.
Hurrying to the side of my bed, I crouched on the floor and reached underneath my bed. Pulling out my black bag, I hurried to my shelf and pulled out a dagger from under it. Anne had strongly disagreed with me having the bow, let alone any other weapon, so I had to keep it hidden incase she was to come into my room. Putting it in the bottom of my bag, I filled it with a few other items that included some food and a full water canister.
The last thing I stuffed in my bag was my bow and arrows. They would probably come in handy in case we ran into anything that was to dangerous in the Spine. Placing my stuffed bag on my back, I slid quietly out of my room and headed for the front door, hoping, to no avail, that Anne wouldn't notice me.
"And where do you think your going?" Anne prodded, while standing in the doorway to the main room. She paid no head to my bag, considering I took it most everywhere, or to my shoeless feet, for I never wore shoes.
"I'm going to go find Jason and tell him that I'm sorry. I said things that I shouldn't have, and really upset him. I have to make things right." I lied. Lying came to me almost as naturally as breathing, though I hated it. Being able to lie so well made me seem less trustworthy, so I lied as little as possible. It's hard to live an honest life when people think your always lying to them.
Anne shook her head and sighed. "I hope he forgives you. I hate seeing either of you upset." I nodded. Part of me knew that this little act would hurt Anne's feelings, but I knew it would be only temporary. It was only an act and it would all be over soon enough.
Once outside I didn't even bother to glance around, which probably was a bad idea. There was one lone tree off to the left side of the house and a little ways away. Taking one more breath, I bolted for the tree at about a normal human speed even though I knew I could run faster then that. The grass and wild flowers were cool and damp on my feet, but they barely moved as I ran across them.
One second I was running across the field, and the next I was flat on my face with something on top of me.
"Kyra! It's been so long. How are you? What are you doing? Anything new? Where are Jason, and your mom? Anything happen with your dreams? Oh, wait, did I say hello yet? Well, hello! Why are you on the ground? How are you? What have you been up to lat- - -"
"Mia, calm down, you're talking too fast again!" I stopped her while I had the chance. Even though I could support her, I wiggled under her and asked, "Can you please get off of me?"
"Oh, sorry, I'm just so happy to see you. It's been like, a whole week!" Mia smiled then got off of me. After helping me up she pulled me into a huge hug. Mia was my best friend, and really my only real friend besides Jason. We had known each other for a long time, and spent as much time together as we could.
Her short black hair framed her face nicely, and slightly dangled over her brown eyes. Once she released me from her hug she took half a step backwards. "So what are you up to?"
Glancing around to make sure Anne hadn't come outside, I leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, "Jason and I are going on an adventure into the Spine to see my real mother's grave. I'd ask you to come, but I don't want to impose on you, or to let you get hurt since it's too dangerous."
"The Spine?! Are you guy's crazy? The people in Kuasta are always telling us how dangerous it is, and, and, and…" Her voice trailed off and her face was filled with a light pink color as she spotted Jason staring at us from behind the tree. For one reason or another she had a major crush on my brother.
But at the same time she was jealous over the fact that most every boy in the city liked me and not her. Eventually she just ignored it and figured it was because of my unnatural beauty. She may have set her eyes on my brother since he seemed to be the only boy that didn't like me like that, or maybe it was just a coincidence.
"If you don't want to come, that's alright. At least don't tell anyone about this, if you did, Jason would be mighty angry at you." I grinned and started to walk away from her. Her eyes were still fixed on Jason, and as she heard my words she gasped and quickly followed after me.
After reaching Jason, the three of us quickly headed to the edge of the Spine. My mother's grave wouldn't be too far within it considering Anne was too scared to travel that far. Jason was the only one who knew the way, so he became the leader of our little expedition group. Mia stayed close too him, admiring his skills to safely navigate threw the Spine, and occasionally commenting on something. I followed closely behind them, and pulled my bow and three arrows out of my bag. I knocked one of them onto the bow, and held the other two in my free hand.
Sighing, I watched as a flock of birds flew over head. It would be a long walk, and at that moment I wished that I could have flown with the birds.
To be able to fly like the birds would be an amazing feat. I would be able to get to my mother's grave in no time. It would also enable someone like me to easily escape all the danger that lived in Kuasta. Living in Kuasta was very dangerous for someone like me. Most of the people in Kuasta were rather loyal to king Galbatorix. But the king had issued an order that any elves found would have to be arrested and sent straight to him. When the kings guards visit the city I have to be careful because I am too suspicious, and they think I may be an elf.
An hour or so had gone by and all was quiet except for the crunching of twigs as our feet hit the ground. The sun was growing higher and higher into the sky, but it was not yet directly over head. We had maybe another hour or so before it hit noon. Trying to will away the time I asked random questions about what the grave looked like. But, Jason was unable to answer most of them by saying, 'It's too hard to describe, you will have to wait and see.'
After some time, the sun was even higher in the sky, as it shined directly overhead. We had to be close to my mother's final resting place now. Sure enough Jason stopped in his tracks and announced, "This is it. Just past these next few trees is where Kyra's mother awaits us."
The way he said that made me feel like she might still be alive, but I knew that was impossible. No reason to get my hopes up. Lowering my bow to my side, I stepped past Jason and continued forward. One, two, three trees passed by then there was a break in them. With one final step I crossed into the small opening.
End of chapter 1! (( Chapter 2: A place for dreams, is the next chapter! ;) ))