A/N: Loosely based on the movie Eragon. Also loosely based on the Elder book series. I do not own anything connected to the original story.
"Oromis, we should just forget about it." Onóra stood in the doorway of the old dragon rider's home. "They'll never agree to it. Ayra doesn't believe we're ready and my mother doesn't want to deal with memories of my father."
"Do you believe you're ready?" His wise gaze rested on her.
"Eirwen and I have been training every day since she's been flying. We still have a lot to learn but I don't believe we can learn it here." Oromis had to remind himself that Onóra was only 20; she seemed so much wiser than her years. She stood in his doorway clad in her training armor, and she reminded him so much of her father. Her sword "Azura" rested in its sheath. "As for my father…" She placed a hand on the hilt of the sword.
"What about him?" Oromis knew exactly who her father was, but was sworn not to say his name.
"I want… I need answers. All I keep hearing is that he was – is – a great man. He left my mother, knowing she was pregnant, to start the Varden. He left me this sword and had given you Eirwen's egg. But no one will give me a name!"
"Be patient, Onóra. One day you will get your answers. Now, go back to your training." She nodded and then left.
"How much farther, Eragon?" Murtagh stood near a stream.
"We should be there by sundown." Eragon looked at his friend. The two had been heading to see Arya as a way to take a break from training.
"Does she even know we're coming?" Murtagh doubted the princess knew.
"I sent word that we'd be visiting within the month."
"So she knows we're coming, just not when we're coming?" Murtagh rolled his eyes.
"Two birds with one stone, Murtagh: we are going to see Arya, but we are also going to see an old friend of Brom's." Even after learning that Brom is his father, Eragon still couldn't bring himself to refer to him as such.
"Onóra, get down here!" The two men heard a woman shout. They looked up to the sky just in time to see a dragon fly just above the tree tops. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"Another dragon rider?" Murtagh and Eragon exchanged looks.
"Onóra, listen to your mother!" Another woman's voice was heard but this one they recognized.
"Alright, I'll land in the nearest clearing!" Yet another woman's voice was heard, but this one came from above.
"Eragon? Murtagh?" Arya spotted the two men standing just on the edge of the clearing. "What are you two doing here?" Before they had the chance to speak, a white dragon landed in the middle of the clearing.
"You are just like your father!" An older woman approached the rider.
"I'm 20 years old, Mother, stop treating me like a child. We've learned all we can from Oromis…"
"Onóra, we've got company." The sound of her dragon's voice stopped her mid-sentence.
"Lady Amelia, Lady Onóra, I'd like for you to meet Eragon and Murtagh. They're from the Varden." Arya introduced the four. Soon after the introduction, a blue dragon joined them on the ground and there was someone on her back.
"Saphira?" Eragon looked at his dragon. "Brom, what are you doing here?" The man slid down from Saphira's back.
"It can't be." Amelia stared, wide eyed at the new arrival. "Onóra, get out of here."
"Why?" Onóra looked at her mother and then at the strangers.
"For once, don't ask questions and do as you're told!" Amelia hissed.
"Fine." Onóra huffed. "Come on, Eirwen. Let's go somewhere we're actually wanted." Annoyance was thick in her voice as she climbed onto her dragon.
"Amelia?" Brom had watched the pure white dragon fly away but he hadn't really noticed the exchange that occurred between mother and daughter.
"Hello, Brom." Amelia tried to remain unaffected by this man's presence. It had pained her to hide the truth from her daughter, but she had always thought that it was best.
"It's been a long time; you look well, Amelia." Brom hadn't seen Amelia in 20 years but his heart hadn't changed. He's met Amelia roughly six months after Selena had taken their son and left. Amelia had filled the void and he fell in love with her only months later.
"Yes, 20 years is a long time. A lot has happened in those 20 years." Amelia looked to the sky and sighed. Onóra was a lot like Brom. Onóra had been a constant reminder of the man who'd left Amelia with a broken heart. She knew why Brom left and she had supported him, but when word spread that the fight had failed, she had expected Brom's return.
"She'll understand, Lady Amelia, but it's time she knew the truth." Arya knew the burden Amelia was carrying. "She is going to find out sooner or later. It's best if she hears it from you. Oromis and I won't be able to keep it from her any longer."
"Oromis!" Onóra shouted before throwing open the door.
"What is it, Lady Onóra?" Oromis emerged from the other room.
"Brom's my father, isn't he?" She had felt it as soon as he showed up. Her mother had confirmed it by asking her to leave. "Don't lie to me anymore, Oromis, is Brom my father?"
"Search your heart; you already know the answer." Oromis studied her expression.
"They're approaching, Onóra." Eirwen said. Onóra walked outside and stood next to her dragon.
"Oromis, we have company." Onóra said as she spotted the group on the top of the hill.
"Easy Onóra, let them speak."
"I'll hold my tongue for now, Eirwen." Onóra tried to see her mother's side of things.
"Let them ALL speak before you shout." Eirwen looked at Onóra. She rolled her eyes at the dragon.
"Murtagh." Onóra thought. Eirwen nodded. Onóra had first met Murtagh about three years ago. She had been camping in the woods a few days ride from home when he rode past. She thought nothing of it until he came back by and stopped. They'd only spent a week together but something clicked. They made plans to get together at the same time every year, but Murtagh hasn't come this last time. Onóra hadn't realized how much she'd looked forward to seeing him until he didn't show.
"Brom, my old friend." Oromis greeted Brom when the group arrived.
"Onóra, I need to tell you something." Amelia stepped towards her daughter.
"I already know, Mother." Onóra smiled. She knew why her mother had kept her in the dark about her father. "I get it, I do, but why continue to hide it? Being a dragon rider makes so much more sense now."
"I thought it even more important to keep it from you after that egg hatched. I hope someday, daughter, that you will be able to forgive me." Amelia rested a hand on her daughter's cheek." How did you know?"
"The moment I saw him I knew. It wasn't looks or behavior, but, rather, something inside me told me who he was. I never really understood why the egg hatched for me; I'm no one special. Now, now I know that part of it has to do with who my father is." Onóra had heard about Brom; he had been the hero in her childhood fairytales. "You always told me stories about a man named 'Brom', I never imagined…"
"Amelia, what is she talking about?" Brom had been talking with Oromis and Eragon and hadn't been paying attention to the other conversation until his name was mentioned.
"We've got trouble!" As soon as Eirwen spoke, an arrow came flying at the group.
"Mother!" Onóra couldn't react fast enough as the arrow pierced her mother's shoulder.
"Eirwen, get her to the castle!" With the help of Arya, Onóra lifted Amelia onto Eirwen's back. She whistled and a moment later a black stallion came galloping to her.
"Onóra, what are you doing?" Arya asked.
"They almost killed my mother! I will not let them get away with it!"
"Onóra, wait!" It was too late; Arya's cries were useless. "She's so much like Eragon, it's not funny. Irrationality must run in the family." She muttered.
"What did you say?" Eragon and Brom looked at each other and then back at Arya.
"Neither one of you were paying attention to that conversation?" Murtagh spoke up. "I knew what they were talking about even with them being so cryptic." The truth was that Murtagh knew who Onóra's father was a year ago. The last time Onóra and he had spoken he had asked about her sword. She told him that her mother said that her father had left the sword behind for their child. It wasn't until Murtagh returned to the Varden and heard Brom mention the very unique sword that he was able to make the connection.
"Onóra is Amelia's daughter. Onóra is a dragon rider. Her dragon is pure white. Oromis, is Eirwen the egg I gave you?" Brom was starting to put the pieces together.
"Yes, she is. The egg hatched for Onóra on her 18th birthday." Oromis replied.
"She's 20?" Brom couldn't believe what everything was telling him.
"Yes. She and I grew up together. Lady Amelia had never had another man in her life since Onóra's father left before she was born." Arya could tell that Brom had put the pieces together but what she couldn't tell was whether he was happy or not. "Onóra is your daughter, Brom, surely you must feel it."
"Yes. I knew Amelia was pregnant, but I never knew it was a girl." He looked at Eragon. "Both of my children are dragon riders; the first of the new generation of dragon riders."
"If Onóra is your daughter… then that makes her my sister." Realization hit Eragon.
"She's coming back." Oromis spotted Onóra returning from the woods. Eirwen was flying above her. The group hadn't noticed the dragon fly over them to aide Onóra.
"Onóra, are you alright?" Arya asked as soon as she dismounted.
"I'm fine." She had a few cuts and a nice gash on her left arm, but other than that she was fine.
"You don't look 'fine'." Murtagh said. Onóra glared at him.
"Most of this blood isn't mine." She wiped sweat from her brow. "Excuse me, I should get cleaned up before I check on my mother." She headed towards the castle.
"Onóra, wait!" Brom called after her. She stopped and turned. "I'll go with you." He caught up to her and they headed to the castle.
"You know who I am?" Onóra asked as they walked.
"Yes, you're Amelia's daughter." He paused; he still couldn't believe he had a daughter. "You're my daughter."
"What happens now?" Onóra wasn't sure what this would mean.
"I don't know. Galbatorix must never know our relation. He must never know that you, Eragon, and I are related."
"Eragon's my brother." As soon as Brom said his name, Onóra knew. "I have a brother?"
"Yes. He's your half-brother. His mother ran off with him when he was only six months old. Six months later I met Amelia." He stopped walking. "Onóra, I loved your mother very much. I sent her here because I knew that she would be safe. She would be able to raise our child without fear of Galbatorix and what he might do to get back at me. I never stopped thinking about Amelia and our child; I always wondered about you."
"Then why didn't you come home?" Tears stung her eyes.
"I was ashamed. I was depressed. Morzan had killed my dragon and in seeking revenge I killed Morzan. I can still hear the sound of his dragon dying."
"You killed Morzan?" Onóra hadn't known that fact.
"Yes, why?" They continued walking.
"You killed Morzan and yet his son travels with you and your son?"
"Murtagh has proven that he is not his father." Onóra knew that Murtagh had hated his father. She had seen the scars that marked his body. "What is going on between you and Murtagh?"
"What are you talking about?" Onóra wasn't sure what to say.
"He's been watching you this whole time and you've been acutely aware of his presence." Brom wasn't stupid. Even before he'd realized Onóra was his daughter, he had noticed the way she and Murtagh interacted with each other even if they weren't meaning to.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Her relationship with Murtagh was something she wasn't sure of and so she really had no idea what to say. They arrived at the castle. Brom waited for Onóra to change and then helped her bandage her arm.
"What is that?" He grabbed her right arm and studied the white dragon tattooed on her forearm.
"Oromis said that it's a 'soulmate mark'. It appeared the moment Eirwen took to the sky for the first time. When I showed it to Oromis, he said that he'd never actually seen one; he'd only ever just read about them."
"They're said to mark a dragon rider who's soulmate is also a dragon rider. This means there will be at least one more rider." Brom couldn't believe what he was seeing. This mark hasn't appeared in years because it has been a long time since there had been a female dragon rider. "Right now, Eragon is the only other rider and he's your brother so we know it's not him." Brom bandaged her arm and the two headed towards Amelia's room.
"Brom, do you still love her?" Onóra asked. "You're going to leave again; you have to return to the Varden soon. I can't watch her go through that. I should have known it sooner… the way she talked about you. Bedtime stories were always about a heroic dragon rider named Brom who fought against the evil king. I should have made the connection sooner."
"Onóra, don't do that to yourself. Your mother knew what had to be done. I had to fight for a better future for my children. She knew about Eragon but she didn't care. I loved Amelia more than anything… nothing has changed that." Brom pulled Onóra into a hug. They headed into Amelia's room and the three spent a few hours together.