Alright, welcome to my second IC fanfic. And, also, welcome to FFN. I am NOT Christopher Paolini, and I only own Ophelia and Tania (pronounced Tahn-yá). This is set during the books (this first chapter takes place about a month after Eragon begins). On with the story...
Tania was exhausted. She had been hunting for almost a week now, and it showed in her stark ribs and sunken cheeks. She was able to forage winter roots and the occasional berry, but they were few and far between. The snow was thick, and most animals with any sanity were burrowed down for the winter, or had migrated south, to the Forest of the Unknown.
She brushed a stray strand of dirt-caked black hair away from her face, taking in her surroundings. There was a clearing up ahead, and it was surrounded by the enormous pines typical to the Spinewoods. She sighed, disgruntled. It would have to do for the night—though she wasn't stupid enough to actually sleep in the clearing.
Picking a tree at random, she adjusted the small pack on her shoulders. Then, stretching her cold hands to the nearest branch, she pulled herself up and began to climb. She climbed until she was near the top of the tree, where only someone with a skinny frame and a light diet could go. Settling herself on the thickest branch on that level, she took a few whips—flexible and sturdy willow branches stripped of leaves—and laid them between the branch she sat on, and another near it. Satisfied that they would hold her whilst she slept, she put her pack on one end, they lay her head on it.
Tania yawned, so exhausted that she fell asleep before it was completely finished.
The next morning, she awoke to the smell of smoke. Jumping up, she hurriedly stuffed the willow whips back into her pack—making sure not to break them—and climbed to the top of the tree. She reached it, the trunk swaying with her weight, and looked around for the source of the smoke.
There! It was nearly hidden by the trees surrounding her, but it was there. Smoke, rising beyond the mountains, the scent blown to her abnormally sensitive nose by the wind. She frowned.
Climbing down from the tree, she moved swiftly in the direction of the smoke, curious as to where it came from. It was several hours before she heard the crackle-snap! of a dying fire. She slowed to a cautious stroll.
It wasn't long before she came to a smoldering forest. She picked through the ashy ground and charred trees, looking for a tall tree that wasn't completely burnt. She walked for a while, but when she came to trees that were undamaged, they were all small and weak, mostly saplings.
Finally, she came to a large outcropping of granite. Quickly climbing up it, she came to the top and looked around. All around her in a blackened ring, there was only charred forest and a few still-burning bushes. Tania's green eyes widened in dismay.
After a while, she realized that the ring of charcoal was too precise, too perfect to be a natural wildfire. Tania looked around, searching for evidence of who might of done this. She spotted a heap in the greener center of the ring,
Tania climbed down from the granite and ran towards the strange heap, half-expecting a pile of corpses. When she reached it, the smell of rancid meat hit her like a ton of bricks. It was a pile of corpses, but not human corpses, at any rate. There were twisted horns growing out of the skull, and the bodies were brutish and thick.
She reeled back. Urgals.
And, judging by the crest on their leader's chest, they had been part of an attack by the Rider King.
That's it for this chapter. As for why I've suddenly given up on Secrets of Life, well... I started rereading Eragon, and I suddenly had brilliant inspiration for this. Tania is a very curious person, which is why she didn't run in the opposite direction when she saw where the smoke was coming from.
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Falcon