LK-Thank you so much again hockeygirl9 and EragonPeep! Ill do my best nya! Ill also try to update as often as I can but I'm kind of busy lately so sorry!
Kairi-Please read and review!
Disclaimer- no, I don't own Eragon…if I did, Arya would be dead by now XD
By: Lonely Kitty
Ch.04 Tricks and Questions
The Reason For Dragons
"When you can ask yourself how good
you aren't, you can ask others
how bad they are."
-LK
Icy azure eyes glared defiantly at the second round of arrows. Her lip curved into a cattish grin.
"Altoria"
She drawled out lightly.
"Ice fire…"
The same blue white fame engulfed the incoming arrows as slivers of debris rained to the ground. She grinned wickedly.
The white dragon let out a growl of warning.
'don't get too caught up in this Ria…'
'I know, I know, I just wanna let them know what they are up against.'
She motioned with her fingers at the origin of the arrows. A massive head turned its way toward the direction and roared, vibrations still resonating afterwards.
Ria stared slightly surprised at the number of soldiers that did not turn tail and run. She tilted her head to the side, letting her long black hair fall to the side.
"So they have guts, at least it won't be boring."
She took a few steps forward until she was directly in front of now peeved dragon.
"Care to do the honors Alta?"
"of Course, Ria…"
A lazy smile spread over the girl's face.
"Then…burn in a frozen wasteland, ice fire."
For the third time, the bluish white flame emitted from the dragons maw. Only by now, Eragon could feel a distinct drop in the temperature. He breathed out a sigh of relief as the dragon ceased its attack, only to find that he could see his breath billow in a misty fog in front of him.
He let out a gasp of surprise and backed away from the girl. She glanced at him, a question forming on her face.
"What's up?"
She asked in a nonchalant tone.
"Its...cold….'
Eragon shivered bringing his arms around his chest. She frowned at him her eyes scrunching up in confusion.
"Well, of course, Alta can't breathe fire."
She turned back to her target practice range before shouting out as loud as she could.
"If you know what's good for you! You better get the heck out of here before Altoria here turns you all into pop stickle sticks!"
She leaned back with a triumphed grin as she lightly placed her hands on her hips. She stared at them while they began retreating. The blood red dragon had long gone, leaving at the sight of her retreating form. She grim slowly shifted to a distant smile.
"When faced with an enemy with unknown abilities, the best move is to retreat and regroup."
She gave a nod of approval as she skipped back happily to stand beside the confused brunette.
"What?"
Eragon continued to stare at her. She shifted uncomfortably at the various other stares changed to a stilled silence.
'Alta…a little help here.'
She pleaded quietly in her mind.
'and what do you want me to do? You've done this several times.'
She admonished the nervous girl. A look of realization dawned on her face. A look of confidence spread on her face she stepped forward boldly.
"…"
She let the silence speak for her. If they were going to judge her, she would judge them as well.
'you already did…'
Her dragon sighed lightly. There is no such thing as understanding her logic.
"so…you are going to fight with us now…right…?"
Eragon asked hesitantly, he kept his distance from this strange rider…who was currently staring at a butterfly that had landed on her finger.
"that's the deal pup."
Her eyes continued to stare at the fluttering insect as it drifted away.
If that is so, then I think that this is not the best place to discuss such matters."
Nasuada stated calmly. The girl shrugged and followed the Varden leader. Eragon stared warily after her.
.:.
"so you came by the order of your king."
"that's right."
"but you pledge no absolute allegiance to us."
"of course."
"but you will fight with us until the end of the war, am I correct?"
"for the seventh time, yes! What more do you need to know?"
The foreign rider exclaimed loudly. Fingers tapping irritably on her check as she endured the useless torture. Deep azure eyes glanced over the makeshift tent for the eighth time while exhaling loudly. She would have walked out there but years of manners drilled into her skull would have killed her before she even dared. So, she sat up straight, placed her hands neatly over her lap, and gave a cheery smile.
"Is there anything else that you need to ask me before I take a look of the mess Ill have to clean up now?"
Nasuada lips pressed into a thin line as she glared with enraged eyes at the girl's saccharine smile. She opened her eyes at glared back mockingly.
'polite even when being rude, Brother Gabriel sure did a number on you.'
The girl's albino dragon popped into the conversation with ease, though it was probably just to lighten up the suddenly think atmosphere.
"Brother Gabriel is a meanie, he made me clean up after all the nursery kids on mashed potatoes and gravy day, it was such a mess!"
'it's your fault for fighting with Night again.'
"Che, that jerk deserved it, he stole my cookie."
The girl pouted lightly as the dragon gave another sigh. This seemed to be a common ritual for them as they conversed about daily things that Eragon and company had never heard of. They didn't bother to block their conversation either; anyone with enough magical power to read one's mind could have heard them. A laugh broke Eragon's concentration as he glanced at the disrupter. He frowned lightly
'this girl, how can she possibly stand up against Galbatorix, she can't possibly be older than me!'
Saphira hrred in agreement as they examined the girl.
She was around medium height.
(A/N: ok, I consider 5'5 medium height cause im 5'5 other than that, I don't know what to say.)
With dark black hair and deep azure eyes. She was surprisingly thin as well, as if she hadn't eaten for days. As if on que, a loud growl emitted from the rider's stomach. She gave a sheepish grin.
"ehh…well…I really haven't eaten in a week you know."
A nervous grin was fixed on her face as a roar from outside startled Eragon, Nasuada, and Arya in their seats slightly.
"Altoria to…we are really hungry you know?"
A few minutes and several plates later the girl leaned back with a satisfying sigh. Remembering who she was sat up again, the hesitant smile from before retuning to the girls face. Slurps and snaps of bone could be heard outside as the dragon hastily finished the remainder of its meal. Smacking its lips happily and sniffing around for a missed morsel. Eragon noted dryly that she had eaten meat as well but said nothing as Nasuada resumed her questioning.
Instead, it was Arya who asked the question this time.
"you said before, that your dragon does not breath fire…why is that."
Her voice was the same monotones as usual, her eyes barely flickering to meet hers. The rider stretched her lips into a thin grimace, either displeased with the question…or the questioner. She sighed as she explained Altoria's unique trait.
"Altoria was…ah….never really a normal dragon. First of all, she's an albino dragon."
The confused looks and tilts of the head were all she needed to explain further.
"it means the lost of pigment in the skin, its suppose to be heredity, I think somewhere in her line there was another albino dragon, its rather rare."
She shrugged and continued on her former topic.
"There was something wrong with Altoria's air sac in her stomach when she was born, resulting in the loss of being able to breath fire."
"So, how is she able to breath…what does she breath? It burned…"
Eragon though hard. He remembered it being very cold.
"Ah, so you noticed the drop in temperature huh? Well, at least you know your surroundings. Well, it is a combination of Altoria's ability and a bit of magic. Since she couldn't breath fire anymore my King came up with the idea to make her "Breath air cold enough to burn." Who knows how the hell he got that idea though. He's been hanging out with the exorcists to much."
She sighed as she leaned backwards in her chair. It tilted precariously at its side as she continued to tilt backwards and forwards.
"You're going to fall…"
Nasuada said almost tauntingly. The girl gave another one of her cheasire cat grins.
"No way!"
She tilted all the way backwards until the chair began to topple. In that instant she flipped backwards off the chair and grabbed the top of the chair while doing an almost handstand. She let out a grunt of effort and tilted the chair once more until it was standing on one leg. It swirled dangerously as she gritted her teeth. Hands laced with tiny scars fighting to keep balance. She eventually stilled enough to gain control. Delicately, she removed one hand from the chair and placed it neatly behind her back. Eragon gawked at the girl who was panting with effort to keep her balance. It almost looked as if she was doing a one handed handstand on top of a chair…which she was.
She gave another grunt as she jumped off of the chair and collapsed onto the floor. Her face slick with perspiration. She stuck out her tongue childishly at Nasuada who stared rather surprised.
"I would do it longer, really, but im exhausted."
She looked closer to just passing out at that moment as she swayed back and forth.
Eragon stood up and held out his hand to take hers.
"you know, we never did catch your name."
A sly grin crossed her face on instinct. As she jumped up without help, lightly smacking Eragon's outstretched hand away.
"I have no name, I gave it up a long time ago…but you may call me by the same name as my dragon…Altoria."
LK-I'm a word whore XD I love description so I try to use smarty like words. But eh, I didn't like this chapter all to much. Anyway, it might take a week or so for the next chapter because I am very behind on my D.Gray-Man fics so yea. (can you find the DGM parts?) Until then ill do my best nya!
The one and Only, Lonely Kitty