A/N: Well. I should probably wait for some more feedback before I start pumping out chapters, but I can't seem to stop.. so, I'll just keep on writing. I felt kind of mean for leaving you with like, a 1,400-word prologue, so I guess I'll just write this and hopefully it'll be a lot longer than the prologue. One can only hope however. Anyways, please review, I'd love to get some feedback, especially on the areas where I can improve my writing. I got more traffic on the prologue than I expected, so hopefully this will be sufficient for the time being. At the time of me writing this I'm sitting in the middle of French class.. I'm sure my teachers love me.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance Cycle, or its characters. They belong to their rightful owner, Christopher Paolini.

Guest Reviews: Mad Hatter: I though the other three were rushed too, except for TWATR. Thanks for the review.

I: Realization

-With Eragon-

Eragon shot up out of bed, instantly awake once he remembered the previous day's events. His eyes wandered to the place where he had been bitten the day before. There wasn't a single mark. Eragon, now convinced that prior days events was one elaborate dream. He got up out of bed, much calmer now. He went about his normal wake up routine, consisting of changing his clothes and walking down the stairs to the main room, where everything was clustered together. He scrounged around in the cabinets to get a few strips of dried meat for his breakfast. While he was eating his unsubstantial breakfast, Roran walked down the stairs, appearing to have just woken up, from the looks of his tousled hair.

"Hey, Roran." Eragon greeted him.

"Eragon, what happened yesterday," Roran questioned. "Why were you unconscious in the forest?"

Eragon's eyes widened. "Wait, so it wasn't a dream? That actually happened?"

"Yes Eragon, a minute or two after I finished counting I heard you cry out, so I went to look for you in the direction of the shout," Roran paused for a moment. "After around 20 minutes of searching, I found you, unconscious on the ground."

Eragon remained silent, processing that the prior day's events were not a dream. He subconsciously rubbed the arm that had been bitten, while wondering what he should tell his cousin.

"I-I don't really know what happened," Eragon mumbled just loud enough for his cousin to hear.

"Come on Eragon, you've got to have something better than that, what could possibly cause you to lose consciousness, without even leaving a mark?" Roran snapped.

"No, I-I don't remember... I just remember having weird dreams," Eragon mumbled back, trying to play the role of someone who has just lost their memory.

Roran cursed under his breath, a result of being raised by a farmer who had a rather colourful vocabulary. Roran stormed out the door a moment later, intending to look for his father. Eragon meanwhile, was still coming to terms with his dream of the wolf who bit him. I never even got a name out of him. If I see him again I'll ask for his name. At least, I think it's a guy. Eragon, being seven, tired of thinking on one subject quickly, and thought of something to pass the time. Before he could begin however, Garrow walked in through the door with Roran trailing behind him.

"Eragon, I need you to tell me what happened," Garrow demanded. "I need to know if I need to get Gertrude, in case you're ill. Are you feeling well?"

"Yes uncle, I'm feeling fine, better than I normally feel anyways," Eragon replied. Garrow narrowed his eyes at his nephew, taking in his form. His posture was straighter and altogether, it looked like he was telling the truth. Besides, Eragon was never any good at lying. He'd always give himself away.

"Alright, but if you do feel anything bad, let me know immediately so I can fetch Gertrude," Garrow ordered.

"Yes uncle," Eragon said.

It was a week since Eragon was bitten, and Eragon was just getting ready to go to bed. He changed into his clothes for the night, then laid down on his bed that was essentially a straw mattress with a light cloth covering. He stared at the ceiling for a long while, trying to sleep. He eventually sat up and turned his body so his legs were hanging off the side of his bed. Why can't I just get to sleep? Well, if I can't get to sleep, I guess I should just do something to wear myself out. Decided, he went down the stairs and put on his boots. Eragon walked to the door and opened it quietly, so as to not wake up anyone. He didn't feel like answering any questions that might arise why he was sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night.

Despite it being near midnight, Eragon had no trouble seeing in the dark. He looked up at the moon that was almost directly overhead, and felt invigorated by it. Why, he knew not. He looked towards the Spine, a mountainous region that very few people dared venture to. He was always told by Garrow and his aunt Marian, when she was still alive, that the Spine was no place for children. Eragon was always adventurous, and had never liked rules. Eragon started walking towards the tree line that marked the beginning of the forest and the end of his uncle's farm.

Eragon was walking through the forest, following a game trail. His seven-year-old mind did not think about getting lost in the Spine. Suddenly, Eragon had a weird tingling feeling in his feet. He looked down. Everything looked normal. He resumed trudging down the game trail, shrugging off the feeling. A moment later the feeling intensified, and began spreading up his leg. This time, Eragon sat down on a nearby boulder and took off his boot.

Black fur was spreading across his thigh, spreading rapidly. Eragon reached out and touched the fur. It felt soft under his touch. Then the fact that he was growing fur registered in his head. Eragon screamed. The scream changed into a deep-throated howl as the transformation progressed.

Eragon's body straightened out and gained an animalistic form, bones reshaping and moving. His face extended into a muzzle, teeth sharpening to a point. His hands morphed into paws with sharp claws extending from each digit.

Eragon came to his senses after the transformation. He immediately noticed his head was lower to the ground than normal, and his legs felt short. Trying to turn his head, he also noticed his eyesight was much sharper than usual. His brain was unaccustomed to the inflow of smells coming from his nose. His hearing was much more sensitive, causing the first few sounds he'd heard to flinch from their volume.

Once Eragon was accustomed to his new body, he wanted to see what he looked like, but he couldn't turn his head far enough to view himself. Guess I need a pond or river. Eragon took a tentative step forward, going slow because of his unfamiliar body. The first step went without incident, causing him to gain confidence in his stride. Soon, Eragon was padding around as if he had been doing it his entire life.

Eragon began padding away in a random direction, hoping he was heading in the right direction. Not long after Eragon saw smoke rising in the air. That must be the village. Well, I know where I am now. Eragon turned to his right slightly, intending to head to Igualda Falls, as it was the nearest water source that wasn't in the village. Coincidentally, this brought him in the direction of his farm. However, there was no way he was going back to the farm while he was like this. He wanted to see if the effects would wear off. If they did, he hoped it would be some time soon. If not, he figured he'd have to get used to this. Trotting off towards Igualda Falls, he skirted around the edge of the farm as a precaution. Before long he reached Igualda Falls. He slowed once he reached the water's edge.

He made his way slowly to the water. Looking at his reflection, Eragon saw what he truly looked like for the first time. In Eragon's place stood a noble black-furred wolf, standing a foot-and-a-half in height, and nearly two metres in length from nose-tip to tail.

Eragon continued to stare at his reflection in the water for a good ten minutes or so, when he noticed the sun was just starting to rise. Eragon turned around and started to pad off in the direction of his farm. He hoped he would change back into his human form before Garrow and Roran woke up. That is, if he still had a human form.

He was nearly at his farm before he felt that now-familiar tingling in his paws. Looking down, he saw his paws slowly morphing into human hands. Eragon sighed in relief. Well, as close to a sigh as a wolf will ever get to it. Before long, Eragon was standing on his own two feet again. The only thing was, Eragon was naked. When he noticed this, he cursed internally and started running back to the farm, ignoring the sharp sticks and rocks that stabbed into his foot.

Eragon had made it back into his room without incident. He closed the door behind him, but he misjudged his strength and it slammed shut, splintering the doorframe. He stared open-mouthed at the door, then switched his gaze to his arms. How in the blazes did I do that?

-With Roran-

Roran was sleeping peacefully in his bed, when suddenly he was jolted from his sleep by an extremely loud bang. The sound came from Eragon's room, which was right next to his. What in the name of the Riders has he done now? Roran got out of bed and stormed to Eragon's room, quite angry at being awoken in such a manner.

"Eragon, what the hell was that?" Roran near-yelled. A startled yelp came from behind the door.

"Uh, well, I stubbed my toe.. on the door.. yeah," Eragon stuttered. Roran just gaped in disbelief.

"Eragon, that sounded like you ran into the door then fell down, as opposed to stubbing your toe," Roran replied, disbelieving of his cousin's excuse.

"Well, I may have uhh, hit my head, yes. I hit my head. On the floor. Yes, that's what happened. I stubbed my toe, then I fell over and hit my head on the floor," Eragon tried.

"You're loaded with horse dung, you know that right Eragon?"

"Can you just leave me alone? Please? It won't happen again," Eragon pleaded.

"Fine, I swear though Eragon, if this keeps up," Roran left the threat hanging in the air, not really knowing what to say. After that, Roran marched back to his room and went back to bed. It was for naught however, since he couldn't get back to sleep. It was already dawn. Resigned, he sighed and put on his clothes for the day.

-With Eragon-

Eragon sighed in relief once Roran gave up on interrogating him, opting instead to go back to his room. Eragon wasn't really scared by his cousin's threat, since he knew Roran wouldn't hit him. Nor could he threaten to take something of his, since Eragon had no valued possessions. With that, Eragon went back into bed in hopes to get some sleep. He had shut his eyes, but soon after he heard Roran rummaging around in his room. Eragon just hoped that he'd be able to get to sleep before he had to get up. He felt extremely tired. Thankfully for Eragon, he managed to get to sleep.

-With Garrow-

It had nearly been dawn, when he had been abruptly woken by a loud slam. Garrow decided to stay in bed and listen in to whatever transpired. There was another door opening, and then footsteps going down the hall, towards Eragon's room. There was Roran, asking Eragon what the noise was. The conversation that ensued was rather brief, but made Garrow suspicious of Eragon. Why is he even up this early? He's normally the last one to get up. Garrow decided to go back to bed, after vowing to himself that he would get an answer out of Eragon.

-With Eragon—

Eragon woke up after a few hours of sleep, probably because his cousin was shaking his shoulder and telling him start helping with the chores. Eragon, after a few minutes of Roran shaking him to get up, got out of bed and started dressing for the day. Eragon went about his chores like it was any other day, however inside his mind a war was waging; do I tell my family about this, or do I not? He was grateful for the physical work to take his mind off the subject, but it always returned. While he was doing his chores, he noticed that all his tasks that required strength were much easier. Too easy, in fact. It wouldn't do to go around flaunting this new strength of his. He was sure it was a side effect of this transformation. How many other side effects are there?

After his chores, Eragon wasn't even tired. He tried to cover it up as well as he could, however he wasn't sure how well his charades would play out. I still have to decide whether I tell them about this new development, Eragon thought. That can wait another day, when I have all, if not most of the details. It won't do any good to tell them about this and then have no answers for them.

One thing Eragon was sure of though; his life had just changed forever, and he was unsure of how it would unfold before him.

A/N: I received a lot of feedback on the prologue, which was unexpected. I know, this took me a couple of days to write and I apologize however, I can't dedicate all my time to this as much as I would like to. I have to balance it out with school and my other studies, and whenever I do have time to dedicate to this I usually do. However, progress is slow going with my condition (ADD, also known as Attention Deficit Disorder). Some days I just can't get any words down on the paper, others not so much. It will impede progress, but I will try and push through it. Again, apologies for the delay. Please review so I know where to improve my writing. Also, there is a poll on my profile regarding your preferences on longer chapters or shorter chapters, please vote. Last thing, Next chapter is (**PROBABLY**) going to be the chapter where Eragon finds Saphira's egg, and I want you, the viewers, to decide whether Saphira will hatch for Eragon or not. I've never been good at decisions like this, and frankly I feel some things should be decided by the viewers.

Knewminex out. o7

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