Chapter One: Good-bye to You

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize belongs to either Paolini or the artist/writer who came up with the material. Please do not sue. I'm poor enough as it is…

Note: I'm well known for discontinuing things, but I'm sure I could finish this with a minimal amount of support!

Note #2 (this is for Krista only) I'm not sure how well this flows compared to what you've already read…but it should be almost the exact same thing with minor adjustments.

Pronunciation Key:

Kyor [key-you're (almost sounds like "cure")

Typhen [ty-fin

Tya [tie-uh

Meda [med-uh

Celt [cell-t (same spelling as Celt the people, only pronounced with a soft C instead of a hard C.)

Latitude [lat-i-tude (opposite of longitude…for those of you who know geography)

Girlean [girl-lean (a cutesy name for a young woman that is friend/family or for a young woman that you do not know the name of. It's more commonly used for the later of the two, except for when Typhen is talking to Kyor.)

Sorry it took so long to get the party started, but here it is! P.S. song lyrics may/may not actually take part in the story. The ones initalic-bold just set the tone of the story.

Of all the things I've believed in…

Kyor sighed as she watched the color splashed herd of horses graze. Her father, Typhen, led a lame mare out of the field. "Kyor, I want thee to fetch thy friend and come out here and check out the rest of the herd. Make sure thou dost a thorough check, understood?"

I just wanna get it over with…

Kyor nodded and headed off to Tya's house. Too many clouds in her head caused Kyor not to see the woman in front of her. "Hey! Get your head out of the sky! You gunna hurt yourself! Or worse, me!" Meda, the town herbs lady, squealed. "Oh, Meda, I'm so sorry! I was just…" "Daydreaming? Yes we all know you and Tya do enough of that for the whole village! But for heaven's sake child, remember that you live in a real world!" Kyor rolled her slightly slanted eyes at the old witch-woman.

Tears from behind me eyes but I do not cry
Counting the days that pass me by

When she arrived at her destination, Tya met her at the door. "Celt told me you were coming." The small, winged wolf sat mutely on her shoulder. "I've told you this before but, he is a nifty little weapon to have." Kyor held her hand out, palm upturned. Spreading his minute wings, Celt glided onto her hand. "I'm of the mind that you should head out, girleans. Typhen isn't known for patience and those horses can't care for themselves!" Tya's mother called from the foyer. The best friends chuckled and then departed to Kyor's ranch.

I've been searching deep down in my soul
Words that I'm hearing are starting to get old
Feels like I'm starting all over again
The last three years were just pretend

Kyor removed two of the planks so Tya and Celt could pass through the fence. "I'll start with the left side, you take the right." Within a few minutes Kyor had finished checking over a piebald mare and her black foal. As she ran her hands down the foreleg of a chestnut stallion named Latitude, Celt alighted on his back. "The dappled mare there has a cut upon her foreleg and there's a more pressing matter as well according to mine Tya." Sighing deeply Kyor followed the flitting little wolf to the dappled horse. Tya stood patting a small foal next to it. "I'm not sure if it will live past today…" Tya trailed off. "Will you take this foal up to the house? I don't know if there's anything to be done for it, but Typhen will know. Clearly it hasn't been nursing well." Nodding, Tya quickly scooped up the little foal and carried it off, Celt resting upon its rump. "And now for you…"

And I said...
Good-bye to you

The blood on the mare's fore-shank was caked and muddy. Maggots and infection riddled the gouged out flesh. Kyor looked up when she heard soft hoof beats and a man's soft voice. Typhen had returned with the now patched up mare from earlier that day. "Father, I've some terrible news…" she waited for him to approach her, "Arreis, I think, is at the end of her days. She's borne her last foal now…"

Good-bye to everything that I knew
You were the one that I loved

Kyor looked Typhen dead in the eye, "I'm of the mind that she'll not recover. Should I…?" He looked up and sadly nodded, "To the cliffs. It's the best thing for her now. Treat her well before sending her on." Kyor let a few tears fall for the aging and wounded mare. Arreis had been in Typhen's herd for many a year. Almost as many years as Kyor had been alive. Kyor gently pulled a silken halter on the mare's stunning head, "I'm sorry we can't help you…" The walk to the cliffs was a brisk, grief-laden one, and Kyor tried to refrain from leading the horse back to the field.

The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Waves rolled and coiled among the jagged rocks and bones. "May you find peace in the Farthen Fields, with your ancestors, Arreis.", she bowed to the proud dappled face with strong brown eyes, and then walked to the rear of the horse. With one swift and harsh slap, the mare jolted forward and over the cliff edge. In her heart, somewhere deep, Kyor wished the horse to grow wings and fly high above the sea. Her heart felt the anguish that it always felt when she took life. Without a second glance, she returned to the paddock and checked over the last five or six horses, then turned in for the night.

I used to get lost in your eyes
And it seem that I can't live without you

Closing my eyes and you chase my thoughts away
To a place that I am blinded by the light

Girlean. Girlean! "Girlean!" Typhen shook Kyor awake urgently, "Girlean, thee must flee this very night!" "Typhen? What's going on?" she mumbled, in a haze of sleepiness. "The deeds of thy father, wrought upon the daughter. The deeds of thy mother, punished through the daughter. Girlean, thou must not question me now! I've a book- a journal, for thee! And a- a letter from thy mother. Come, quickly now, before it is too late. Tya awaits thee down at the paddock. Take some horses and go! I fear, our time as father and daughter has been a lie and our time as uncle and niece has yet to begin. Go now, Kyor Destel, and be a woman who rides like a man."

But it's not right...

Whether it was the urgency in Typhen's voice, or the look of utter sorrow and concern in his eyes, Kyor didn't know. What she did know was that all she needed were some provisions to get her far from this village and that book of Typhen's.

The night air was frigid as Kyor rushed out of the small house. All of her provisions, necessary belongings, a letter, and Typhen's book were stuffed in a large rucksack. Down at the field were four horses and Tya. At the sound of foot steps Tya whirled around, "Come quickly now Kyor, for I fear you will not escape if you tarry much longer!" Without so much as a word, Kyor slung herself into the saddle of the chestnut stallion, Latitude, from the previous day.

Good-bye to you
Good-bye to everything that I knew
You were the one that I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

On the back of a piebald mare named Sonata, two hog-tied foals lay silently, though their eyes wide with fear betrayed them. "Tya, why have you brought these foals? They'll only slow us down!" Tya, who had mounted her own horse, a coal-black Friesian named Longitude, whispered, " Because they'll die without their mothers!"

It hurts to want everything and nothing at the same time
I want what's yours and what's mine

The last horse was a leopard appaloosa named Zips, with all of their supplies securely tied onto its hefty back. With a small nudge from her heel and a click of her tongue, Latitude charged forward into the night, forcing the pied mare to race along with him. Out of the shadow's behind them Kyor heard Tya yell loudly, "Ride Kyor! Ride as though the pits of hell are spewing forth its foul spawn! For you are in very grave danger!"

I want you but I'm not giving in this time

"Hyah! Get up Latitude, hyah!" Kyor's panic level rose and her steed's speed increased as he began to fear as well. Brushes, branches, vines, and tangleweeds ripped at her clothing and her handsome mount. Tya, who was not much further behind, called, "Kyor, do you know the way to Teirm? If we can make it there before two suns down, we should be able to blend with the locals in their festivities!" Kyor's thoughts rippled in a vast array of directions as she pondered what could be after her. What deeds of her father? What deeds of her mother? What was Typhen hinting at so fearfully? The moon shown through the leafy roof over their heads and it struck Kyor that she would probably never return to Durnst village. She would probably never fish in the waters of Woadark Lake again. Her new destination in life was survival, and if she failed to reach it, there were many mysteries that would remain unsolved. What unsettled her most though, was that she would never again see Typhen and his horses, if indeed she never again saw Durnst.

Good-bye to you
Good-bye to everything that I knew
You were the one that I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Morning rose quietly and the only sounds in the air were the rough gasps from the over exerted horses and the pummeling of their hooves. Stiff and nearly frozen, Kyor pulled Latitude to a slow trot as she scanned the area. Steering her steed in the direction of a small stream and the cover of a dense forest's edge, Latitude complied completely.

The one thing that I tried to hold on to...

Kyor dismounted and lead the Latitude and Sonata over to the water's edge, and returned to retrieve Tya's horses. Celt settled himself on Tya's saddle to soak up the remaining warmth as Tya prepared tinder for a small fire. Kyor let her friend alone for the moment and untied the two foals, before picketing the four larger horses. Taking the unnamed younglings over to Tya she finally spoke, "I'm going to see what I can find around here. We'll leave sometime tomorrow, we should be to Teirm by evening if we ride as we did today. Oh and, these are yours to care for." Tya rummaged in her pouch as Kyor turned to leave, "Kyor, wait! I think you should probably take this with you…you know, just incase something happens." She threw the dagger to Kyor. "Thanks. I'll be taking Sonata..."

Good-bye to you
Good-bye to everything that I knew
You were the one that I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to…

Kyor began to walk away then turned by to Tya, "Latitude and Longitude are by the large ash tree and Zips is by the small waterfall. I'll be back in an hour, and if not, you should return to Durnst." Tya snorted and waved her friend away.

And when the stars fall I will lay awake...
You're my shooting star...

Note: Song by Michelle Branch. "Good-bye to You" from the Album "The Spirit Room".