Disclaimers for the rest of the chapters to come: I DO NOT OWN THIS!
Author- Hi everyone, I sincerely apologize for my long long gap between chapters, but my artistic muse was on vacation in Cambodia and just came back. Well, anyways, go read the story now.
Ch. 4- A faster way to travel
Hermione suddenly became aware an interesting buzzing noise filling her head. She looked around, and saw Ron and Harry nearby, looking as dazed as he was. She sat up, and noticed Arya staring at them as if they were possessed.
Ron shook his head and spoke.
"What happened? I was just… how did I get back here?" he looked bemused.
"Well," said Arya, "You've all been wandering around with your eyes closed and talking to no one. Is that something people from your world usually do?"
"It must've been that daydream stuff we sampled at that new shop!" said Hermione, "Do you remember?" Harry and Ron nodded. They had all tried a bit of a new candy called Daydream Drops while they were in Hogsmeade. All three of them had though they were duds, because no daydreams at all had started. Now, it seemed, they just took a while to work.
"It's just some of the magic from our world," said Hermione, responding to Arya's quizzical look. "You can put a spell into a food or something, and then it activates when you eat it."
Arya nodded. They all stood in silence for a few seconds, and then Eragon walked into the clearing.
"I just talked with Nasuada." he said, "She wants us back as soon as possible."
"Well then," said Arya, "We should be going as soon as possible. We've no time to lose." She knelt down and began tightening the laces on her boot.
"Wait a minute," said Hermione, who had just been struck with an idea. "We could apparate to the Varden, and we'd be there in no time. Literally."
"Apparate?" said Eragon, "what's that?"
"That's how we got here," said Ron. "It's like transporting yourself through space, any distance you want. You just have to know where you want to go."
"Hmm…" said Arya testily. She finished tying her boot and stood up.
A few minutes later, they were all standing in a row, ready to apparate. Hermione was taking Arya and Eragon with her, and Harry was taking Ron, only because Ron had not read the Inheritance books and could not picture going to the Varden. Arya was in a bad mood, the cause of which was that Ron had been trying to flirt with her. Harry had the good sense not to, since he had read the series and knew that Arya was not someone to mess with.
"Are you sure this will work?" said Arya.
"Of course it will," said Hermione, who though Arya seemed a little bit nervous, "We've all apparated loads of times." Arya did not seem very reassured, but said nothing. Hermione and Harry raised their wands, thought of Nasuada's red command pavilion, and apparated.
Arya was feeling a little nervous, but the nervousness was nothing compared to terror she felt as she was sucked into blackness. She felt as if she were in a thin tube that was not wide enough for her to fit through, but somehow she was. She felt the as if the life was being squeezed out of her. I'm going to die in here, she thought. Just then, the tube widened, and she stumbled onto the ground in front of a terrified Nasuada, who had been looking through the finances of the Varden. Arya registered a terrible pain in her arm. She looked down and saw to her horror that half her arm was gone! She screamed before she could help herself. Now that the shock of apparation had worn off, the pain in what was left of her arm was almost incapacitating. A red haze spread over her vision, and she heard voices from far away.
"Oh no!" said Hermione, "she's been splinched too!"
Arya saw Eragon lying on the ground with Hermione next to him, bleeding. Then, her vision went black, and she collapsed.
Nasuada was shocked. Eragon and Arya had arrived suddenly in her tent, both gravely wounded, though she could not figure out how. Their injuries did not seem to have been from any weapon, but as the physician had reported to her they appeared to have "Just fallen apart!" Nobody could figure out where they had came from, not even the elven spell casters, who had no knowledge of any spell that could transport living things. The had been able to heal Eragon's wounds, which consisted of several long strips of flesh seemingly torn from his leg. Arya's arm, however, had seemed impossible to replace. Nasuada had arrested the strangers who had come with Eragon and Arya, and had put them in separate tents guarded by a score of soldiers each. These people were obviously extremely powerful magicians, despite their young appearance. They carried with them only odd decorated sticks and a small pink bag, all of which was sitting on the table in front of Nasuada. Jormundur, King Orrin, and Blodgharm sat around the table, and Saphira had her head stuck in the back flap of the tent. Saphira was tense, as she had just been stopped from burning up and eating the prisoners, and had joined the council once she had been satisfied that Eragon was all right.
"So," said Nasuada, " we should investigate these items." Blodgharm was already twirling one of the sticks between his long fingers.
"These have magic in them," he said in his lilting, elven voice, "Very odd magic though. I cannot harness or even touch this power." He fell silent and continued staring at the stick he was holding. King Orrin and Jormundur reached for the pink bag at the same time, and Jormundur let Orrin look through it. He reached into the bag, and Nasuada saw his eyes widen. He reached his hand in the bag up to the wrist, then to his elbow, and then his whole arm was somehow, impossibly, rummaging inside the bag. She heard the noise of all sorts of things tumbling around in the bag. Orrin withdrew his arm and Nasuada gasped. In his hand, the king held a book!
"How did that fit in there?" asked Nasuada, incredulous, "As a matter of fact, I don't even see how your arm fit into that bag!"
"It seems to be bottomless, Nasuada." said Orrin, shaking his head in puzzlement. "I can't make heads nor tails of it." he then turned the bag upside down, and a flood of books, clothes, bottles, papers, and other clutter tumbled out onto the ground. To top it all off, a large, white, canvas tent fell out of the bag. All assembled were stunned. Saphira, who was allowing everyone to hear her thoughts, said,
I would bet that bag might be able to fit even me inside of it! I do not understand.
"None of us do." said Nasuada, still stunned. Nasuada's guards dashed into the room at the sound of a multitude of items crashing out of the bag. They entered, swords drawn, and stood, mouths agape.
"My lady," said the leader of the guard, "How did all this get in here?"
"I don't know," said Nasuada, shaking her head. "I don't know!" She sat down hard in her high backed chair, already overwhelmed by the events of the morning. What, She wondered, was going to happen next?
Hermione was sitting in a dark gray tent surrounded by soldiers. She was slouched gloomily on the cot, thinking that this must be the most horrible idea she had ever come up with. They had been dragged away almost as soon as they had arrived in the Varden. Though they had insisted otherwise, they were being accused of attacking Eragon and Arya. They had not been given any time to really explain, but since she had been forced into the tent, she had come up with several suitable arguments, such as why they would've brought Eragon and Arya to the Varden if they were trying to capture them. It was just all to confusing.
Ooh, a twist. Will Arya get her arm back or not? Maybe not for a while, because I like being mean to my characters, and because she needs to sit and think about not being able to fight anymore, etc., and maybe she won't get her arm back at all! You know what, you should tell me what you think! Tell me in a review, I am not making a poll that says, "When should Arya get her arm back?" that might give potential beta clients of mine the creeps. Not that I have many, but anyways. I can always beta anyone who needs one, as I'm only editing for one author. Ciao!
-Saskia, the Authoress of this Ever Increasingly Odd story