Disclaimer: I don't own the books.

A/N: I had to change Murtagh's age. I think that's the only real thing I've had to change in the story so far (other than the obvious; you know the whole Katrina-being-Morzan's-daughter thing, yeah, that)!!! Read and review!

Chapter Three: Visions

Katrina wasn't sure if that was a compliment but at this point she hardly cared. "Why am I so good?" She asked Murtagh, not really expecting an answer.

"It's in your blood," He said simply.

"Then why are you so good?"

At that he seemed to stiffen, "I was trained well." He answered cautiously.

"By...?" Katrina didn't finish the sentence, obliviously coaxing him to answer.

"You are a nosy little thing, aren't you?" Murtagh changed the subject quickly, hoping she would take the bate. Which she did.

"Nosy?" She asked seeming appalled at the thought. "I - I was merely asking. Out of . . . curiosity. And I'm not 'little' we are probably around the same age." She added that last part in as an afterthought.

"Well than ask away, just don't expect a response."

Katrina turned a deep shade of red, simply out of frustration. "Shouldn't we begin traveling today?" She asked, quickly to change the subject.

"Yes. We need to get to the Varden in a very short amount of time." He said, deep in thought. "And of course we will need to stop around half way for provisions. We should arrive, assuming everything goes smoothly, in around four weeks - three if we really push it."

"Four weeks?" Katrina was disturbed at how long the journey would last.

"More or less. And as you asked, we will be heading out today."

"I've heard . . . rumors that the Varden, assuming it exists, is hidden in the Beor Mountains but nobody can find it because it is so well hidden. I've also heard the King's castle is in Uru 'baen." She said tentatively.

"Yes and your point is?" He asked impatiently.

"Well, if these rumors are true, do you think we could go to Uru 'baen for out half-way provisions stop?" She asked him.

"Why would you even think of that? Morzan is dead but Galbatorix still remains, if he knows you are in his city, or running away from him at all, he will not hesitate to capture you. He might even have soldiers, or worse, after us right now!"

"Well first of all, the last place he would look to find me if he found out I was headed for the Varden would be his own city. And second of all, I wanted to get him back for everything he has done to Alagaesia." She said in a rush, "Oh, and if I steal the last dragon egg, maybe we could give it to the elves so it can hatch and maybe free riders may rein once again!"

"Silly child," He spat, "You expect to just walk into King Galbatorix's castle, ask for the egg then come out unscathed? If, and notice I say 'IF', we even made it into the city, let alone the castle, we would run into soldiers, urgals, shades, and Ra 'zac every step we took!"

At that Katrina's face fell. Of course she had known it was impossible but it hurt to hear the truth just the same. She forced herself to push away the feeling that the only reason Murtagh was shooting down her idea was that he was angry for some reason.

"Oh, come off it," he said in a disgusted tone. "You know this is a bad idea! I'm frustrated, yes, but that is not what is influencing my reasoning."

Katrina suddenly stilled. "How did you know that?" She whispered.

"That trying to steal the kings last egg was a mistake? Well, lets see first of all -"

"No, that I thought you were angry and that's why you wouldn't let me steal the egg." Her eyes began searching his, looking for an answer.

Murtagh swore to himself and seemed to get more agitated. "I - I..." Somehow he couldn't find the right words to tell Katrina what he had been dreading since they first met. "Well," He began, all frustration gone, now replaced by nerves. "You see, I...I'm the child of Morzan as well." For the first time in his life, Murtagh felt vulnerable and he wasn't sure he liked it.

"Your my . . . my . . . brother?"

"Twin," He corrected. "In the womb, twins develope a bond. An unbreakable bond. And because of the bond, twins have the ability to hear each other's thoughts, scry each other in their sleep, lend each other strength and emotions, and countless other rare gifts only found in twins."

Recognition flashed into Katrina's expressions as she thought of all the dreams she'd had of him ever since she can remember and probably before. Suddenly all the dreams flew before her mind backwards from now to infancy. Murtag escaping, Murtagh reading, Murtagh fighting, Murtagh being trained, Murtagh becoming a man, Murtagh being beat, Murtagh crying . . . and the dream most prominent, Murtagh being maimed at only three or four. She gasped and searched his face,

"You were hurt! By . . . Morzan?"

He grimaced and slid the shirt he was wearing off. He then turned around, exposing a large knotted scar on his back. Katrina felt tears burn behind her eyes and touched the scar at the top of his shoulder blade and traced it down across his back to his hip. A new memory flooded in front of her eyes. This time she was watching from Murtagh's point of view.

"Father, please," Murtagh begged Morzan fruitlessly.

"You are an embarrassment," Shouted a drunk Morzan. "Stop crying!"

Murtagh simply cowered away from his fathers loud voice and cried louder. "Mother!"

"She can't help you now! Are you afraid of me? I'll give you something to be afraid of!" He shouted as he drew his sward. Morzan drunkenly threw his sward at Murtagh who had turned around at the last minute. Katrina heard herself, or was it Morzan?, scream in agony as pain invaded every pour of her, his?, being.

The memory faded just as soon as it had come. Katrina looked around to see she was laying on the ground gasping in pain.

"We will go to Uru 'baen and steal the last dragon egg," He whispered to Katrina.

Katrina studied him and saw he too was panting and looked rather pale. She noticed her brother was hiding something.

"What's wrong?"

What? Oh, nothing," he said, trying to be nonchalant as he bent over in pain.

"Were you being serious about going to Uru 'baen?" She asked nervously.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you were right," he said dismissively.

She narrowed her eyes and studied him. "You're lying."

He turned to her, frustration overcoming him. He seemed to struggle with himself them he walked away. Katrina didn't dare call him back. So she began packing their things and soon she was ready to leave. But there was no sign of Murtagh. When the sun began to set, Katrina got nervous. What if something had happened to him? Would she somehow feel his death because of their connection or would she just feel the growing sense of danger? If so, she wasn't aware of anything amiss.

Soon it was completely dark. Katrina soon began feeling hungry so she looked in Murtagh's bag for dried meat. She groped blindly, and her finger's found a peculiar object. It was hard and felt heavy. Soon she found herself taking it out to look at it. The object was wrapped in black or maybe dark blue (it was hard to see in the dark) velvet. Katrina unwrapped the velvet to find a large watch, or maybe a compass, made of gold and crystal. There were hands pointing to faces on the dial and instead of hours there were little pictures, beautifully designed pictures, of a lot of different things. There was an anchor; an hourglass surmounted on a skull; a chameleon, a bull, a beehive . . . thirty-six all together. There was also a dial to move any of the three hands to any of the pictures. Yet, the fourth hand wouldn't move by Katrina's will. It was thinner and longer than the other three. And if you asked her what it was, Katrina wouldn't have a clue.

Katrina moved the three hands from picture to picture (angle, helmet, dolphin; globe, lute, compasses; candle, thunderbolt, horse) and marveled at how the fourth constantly switched direction, never standing still. She was mesmerized by the devise - until she heard Murtagh coming. She hastily wrapped the velvet around the strange object and tucked it into Murtagh's pack. Katrina then ran to her own pack, picked it up and looked in the direction she heard Murtagh coming from. When he appeared, he was leading two large, muscular horses by their bridle.

"Where have you been? Where did you get horses?"

Murtagh just looked at Katrina, his eyes flicked down at his pack for just an instant, before returning his gaze to Katrina.

And for one pregnant moment, she was sure he knew.

Ok, so I used a part from Philip Pullman's book, The Golden Compass: His dark Materials Book 1. I took the compass/watch looking object from it. I didn't want to plagiarize so I decided to come clean. Now you all know how I've fooled you into thinking I'm creative sighs and hangs head in shame. I like it though, it adds some unexpected zest to the story (the compass/ watch thing wasn't even planned. I just started typing!) Please R&R!!!