Obviously, the noise had not startled any of the other pilots during the night because no one made any note of it as they headed to the egg chambers with Hemlock the next morning at, what Noah suspected, 9:45am. Then again, she was pretty good at guessing the time. Neither the German girl or the Chinese boy spoke a word of what had occurred, not wanting to start up anything.
Now, I warn you, make one noise when we enter, one noise, and I will snap you up in your sleep! the emerald dragon hissed moments before the giant doors they stood in front of swung open, showing off a large conference room. There were a total of forty-two chairs surrounding the table in the center of the room. The walls were covered with gold, red, and silver fabrics while the floor had one line of dark red cloth to cover it. The room, like most of the castle, was made of old, gray stone. They stared in awe at the room until they noticed fifteen people already seated at the table.
The one at the head of the table looked about twenty five with strange features not seen on a human. His hair was dark brown, short, and messy. His eyes were a bright green, appearing to have lost the brilliance of a child in the long years passed. His clothes were, like the rest at the table, of the time of the Dark Ages. On his right was a young woman, looking much like Noah. Her hair was long, and jet black, pulled back from her face by a white silk ribbon. It matched her ultimately dull, gray eyes. She had several uncanny features that did not seem human. Beside her sat a spitting image, but with slightly greener eyes and her hair in a half-braid(1). One down the line was a tall man with a waist-length beard and snow-white hair. His eyes were so dark it was hard to tell if they were black or not. He appeared to be about seventy or eighty. Next was a blond haired boy about twenty one. His hair was cut short and a pale blond. His eyes were an ocean blue, filled with maturity and emotions of a much older man. What stuck out, though, was that he had two dog-like ears sticking from the top of his head. A small, polite smile sat on lips. After him was a man with shoulder-length brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was taller than the person at the head of the table, but there were still some similarities. Next was a girl with strangely styled bubblegum pink hair. Her grin was mischievous, which fit the caramel face and laughing yellow eyes perfectly. A set of black cattish ears sat atop of her head. Lastly was a patient looking young lady with flowing white hair. What startled the ex-Gundam pilots to no end was that she had a large set of angelic wings on her back that twitched every once in awhile. Her eyes were a light, nearly white, blue.
One the other side of the table, across from the winged woman, was a horned beast that appeared quite menacing with his trollish looks. His horns looked like a rams and his skin (Whether actual skin or scales, the ex-pilots couldn't tell) was a dark brown and muscled far beyond anything the boys had seen before. Next was a pale looking man with straight black hair and burning violet eyes. He was thin, much thinner than the beast he was placed beside. There was smug look on his grim features. After him was a boy with black hair pulled back like Wufei's. He looked for everything like the former Shenlong pilot, except that Wufei didn't have scaled wings and a tail as black as the night sky. An air of royalty curled around him. Next in line was a grinning midget with bright red hair. His beard was braided and he seemed somewhat drunk. In front of him was a silver hammer. Then there was a woman, about twenty, that sat straight in her chair. Her skin was a dark chocolate color and her hair and eyes were even darker. She had, like the dragon-winged male, an air of royalty around her. After her was a black-haired woman with her eyes closed. Like the black-skinned girl, she sat straight up like a princess or queen. Lastly was a boy with his hair pulled back, several strands falling into his face. His eyes were closed and his arms were crossed.
Hemlock moved quickly and stood behind the female on the right of the head. Thorn stood behind the man on the right and Saphira behind the man at the head. A small cough came from the edge of the room and the ex-pilots looked over to their right. A young woman with braided chestnut hair to the stone floor stood by a row of different colored eggs. Her eyes were scolding red, matching her clothing. She was clad in gold, red, and copper armor, a rusty, but still usable, broad-sword on her back. Scars were visible on her face, quite a few of them, actually. She was strange, with fire red, scaled wings, a tail the length of her own body tipped with a patch of long, black hair, and the black ears of a cat, which were heavily pierced. The eggs she stood beside were of different colors. The first she stood beside was a beautiful white, shining in the torch light. The second was black, a deep obsidian with a small, faint web of gray veins trailing over the fine shell. The third was silver, seeming to be a giant mass of the said substance instead of an egg. The fourth was golden, seeming, like the one before it, to be a giant mass of the substance and nothing more. The fifth egg was a sapphire color, much like Saphira, with faint, barely visible, white veins going over the surface. The sixth was ruby, like Thorn, with a light touch of gray lining the shell. The seventh was emerald, like Hemlock, with a spot or two of dark yellow. The last was the most brilliant of them all; violet with strands of deep blue pulling themselves around the smaller egg. Yes, smaller. The other eggs were larger than this one, dwarfing it all around by at least an inch. The young woman guarding them smirked, crossing her arms.
"Ahem," they turned their attention back to the table. The one at the head had stood, a small smile on his face. "I am Eragon, first Rider of the new generation. You have already met my dragon, Saphira. My companions here are from the different races and continents or countries. Will you," he motioned to the young woman to his right. "please begin?" he placed himself back in his seat as she stood.
"My name is Rom Garnet, Rider of Hemlock," she quickly sat back down, allowing the next to stand. This one introduced herself as Aiveri Garnet, Roms younger sister, and the representative of the Magicians. The next introduced himself as Odra Nelle, representative of the continent of Moqui, which roused more questions in the minds of the young ex-pilots. Before the next introduced himself, he swiftly made his way to face Quatre, his ears and -they noticed for the first time -his tail twitching.
"Thorn!" he said, his voice as soft and musical as the blond Arabian that stood in front of him. "He does look like me! I can't believe the resemblance!"
"Please, sit down, Darli, you can have time after the introductions and explanations to go on and on about how much you look like each other," Eragon mused, a smirk playing his lips. The dog-eared man obeyed, then, before sitting down, introduced himself as Darli Vrans, representative of the Wolven. The next called himself Roran, Eragon's cousin, and the representative of the humans. The cat-girl stood quickly, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"My name is Emnia Toll, rep of the Neko Race!" she seemed about as cheery as Duo did. The winged woman was the next to introduce herself. With grace equal to that of a well-trained princess, she stood, turning to the ex-pilots.
"My name is Sheska Rokhert, daughter of Leo and Minerva, and the representative of the Sky Race," she, as quickly and gracefully as she had stood, sat back down. The beast across from her nodded, standing in her place. He called himself Urndask and the representative of the Urgal Race. The grim-looking man said his name was Frei Drastil representative of the Vampiric Race(2). Once again, questions of confusion were ready to burst from their mouths. The dragon-like boy stood next.
Clearing his throat, he said, "My name is Trizan Farse, representative of the Dragoon Race, and, I must add, that you, Hemlock, are not as intelligent as Rom places you to be. I look nothing- nothing- like that human," he pointed towards Wufei before settling back into his seat.
The dwarf stood and muttered under his breath something that sounded awfully like a curse before speaking up, "My name be Orik and I am the representative of the Dwarves," with that, he dropped back down. The woman beside him sighed heavily and shook her head before introducing herself.
"I am Nasuada, daughter of Ajihad, representative of the Varden and Surda." The next introduced herself as the representative of the Elven Race, Arya. Next was the last person at the table.
"Murtagh, Rider of Thorn," he then motioned at the egg guard to speak, who promptly obeyed her orders.
"My name is Rosin Visira, sister of Nell Visira, daughter of Digata Toll and Triskei Farse," her voice was soft and caring. It made her seem as if she didn't deserve the sword on her back and did deserve to be treated as the princess of the world. "I am the Keeper of the Dragon's Eggs. Any problems with the Riders of current and past, and you get to take it up with a one thousand year old Ryuu-Neko!" a sly grin played its way to her rosy lips, her ears laid back and tail twitching madly behind her.
"Abomination of the races," scoffed Trizan. "What my father did with that stupid Neko girl was pure injustice," he crossed his arms, a disgusted look on his face. Rosin's hands balled into fists and she took a step back. Hemlock's head shot up at the hiss the Ryuu-Neko gave.
Emnia giggled. "I am forced to agree, even if that 'stupid Neko girl' was my own mother," she frowned then. "It was a very sad day when I found out I was related to that," sighing dramatically, she waved a hand through the air. "It was just as bad for the rest of my family. You know how it is in my clan, Trizan, I have told you before, word does get around rather quickly," she was taunting Rosin now.
"Emnia! Trizan!" Eragon shot from his seat, glaring down the table at the two. "We have no time for family matters such as yours! Rosin," he turned to face the Ryuu-Neko girl, but she had disappeared faster than Duo could have and was no where to be seen. With a look of sharp annoyance, Saphira's Rider looked back to the people at the table and sighed. "Let us continue without her," he waved a hand in front of his face before smiling at the ex-pilots. "Introduce yourselves, then you will each receive an egg and I will then explain the current situation and who it is that it centers around," with that, he sat back down, glancing over at Emnia and Trizan, who were grinning madly at each other.
The first to speak was the small Arabian, "I am Quatre Raberba Winner." Trowa then introduced himself, then Duo, who grinned like a mad man, then Heero, Tori, Zechs, Wufei, and, lastly, Noah. The German girl was shaking slightly, but Wufei couldn't blame her seeing as it was somewhat cold and all she had nothing to cover her arms because she wore a tank-top. With a sigh, Wufei removed his jacket and placed it over her shoulders, returning the smile she gave him softly.
Rom gave a small cough as she stood and walked to the line of eggs.
"She is the only one who can tell before the eggs hatch who is meant for them," Eragon explained.
"Lord Yuy," the black haired girl spoke softly, motioning for Heero to join her. Once he stood beside her, she motioned for him to take the blue egg and return to where he had stood. He obeyed, staring at the egg as he walked as if he wanted it to combust. "Lord Barton," this went on until no egg was left. Trowa took the green; Quatre the white; Zechs the silver; Tori the red; Wufei the gold; Noah the black; and Duo the violet.
Eragons face turned serious as he stood once again. "And now, I shall explain as promised."
1- Its when you start braiding your hair and you stop half-way through.
2- Vampy's, in this fic, can stay out in the day. Its a different world and its my fic! Get over it! Things are different there.
R&R!