A/N

First of all, sorry about not uploading this yesterday. My JROTC Colonel gave me an essay for homework and I couldn't bring myself to look at any more words once I finished it. Then, this morning, I saw Mahavia's review and had to implement it into this chapter, as I get where he/she is coming from. With this being the last week of school, chapter updates should be on-time for a while. Anyways, thank you for the support and R&R.

Chapter 12

Eragon

All Eragon could do once he stopped driving with Arya was think about his parents and their lives. The joy of driving had all but vanished as he was, once again, left with his thoughts. He was barely paying attention to those around him until Oromis was talking. It was only then that he noticed Oromis had arrived and began talking to Eragon, keeping his replies polite but short until he mentioned his parents, sparking Eragon's curiosity. I'll ask him once we finish the tests, he decided.

Eragon didn't connect the dots to his research of Oromis until they were mere feet from the car. There was nothing to ask him because it all made sense that Oromis would retire from racing to become a coach, but Eragon decided to mention it when he asks Oromis about his parents. The atmosphere around them grew serious with Oromis and Glaedr present.

Eragon observed the GT-R once again before he climbed into it. He saw the rounded grille that transitioned into a much more aerodynamic design that followed the car through the rest of the car. Black detailing covered anomalies in the aerodynamic design, bringing out the intakes and exhausts in the design, making everything seem deliberate rather than the anomalies being important to keep the car working properly.

After admiring the countless hours put into the car's design, he opened the door and sat in the red and black leather seats. He started the car as Oromis began telling Eragon his plan. "For now, I want you to drive through the track as quickly as possible. I will count you off, then go see what records you break," Oromis said with a smile, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

Despite Oromis' efforts, Eragon was serious as he maneuvered the car into the starting position. He adjusted his hands in anticipation just before Oromis began his countdown. "3." Eragon shifted the car to second, then revved the engine, stopping at the 4 on the RPM gauge. "2." Eragon held the rev, ready to release the brake. "1." Eragon was tense, attempting to anticipate the word 'go' to gain what few milliseconds he could from the advantage. "Go." As the word came out, Eragon went into action. He quickly shifted through the 6-speed transmission, trying to gain what he could during the launch. Eragon's plan for the turns was already formulated in his mind. He took the first turn by lightly swinging angling the car into a drift, just enough for the car to lose traction. Eragon was trying to maintain speed and too high of an angle would reduce the speed. His foot was constantly fluctuating as he maintained his angle to the best of his ability.

He let off of the gas pedal as he wanted to regain traction as the turn became a straight. His arms were screaming at him for putting them through this again. He shoved the burn out as he continued his plan for the course. He slammed on his brakes as the left turn approached, then he turned the wheel to swing the rear end of the car out. The car maintained the driving line until the turn began to even out. Eragon held the brakes down until he was at the edge of the track, which caused him to gradually release the brakes and slam the gas pedal to the floor, which allowed him to aggressively slow down from 120 mph and enter the corner simultaneously. When done right, it is the best feeling drift as the weight of the car shifts from the rear, going above 100 mph, to the front, dropping to drifting speeds.

Throughout the turn, he fought the weakness in his arms using the combination of throttle and turning the steering wheel he used earlier. He could feel the tires bounce on the rumble strips. The car overextended, but there was nothing to do to fix it without being reckless, so he waited until the turn shallower into another straight before shallowing his angle until he was straight, flooring it towards the next left turn. Mere seconds later, he was at the turn and initiating the exact drift he did last time, this time preventing the car from overextending. He felt the weight of the car shift towards the front again, just before he began to exit the turn. He smoothly exited the turn and knew the hairpin was next. This turn took extra consideration due to the tightness of the hairpin. His decision on how to tackle the turn: Scandinavian flick. He turned the wheel to the left before hitting the e-brake, releasing it, then spinning the wheel back to the right as fast as his arms would let him. He felt the rear of the car speed up as momentum grew. The car, as a result, sped up with the loss of traction. Eragon, then, began to counter the rear end in an attempt to gain traction as the hairpin straightened. He released the throttle when the hairpin ended, which provided the car with a surplus of traction, then he started moving through the gears as he approached the wide radius corner. There was only one speed-efficient way to take the corner, which consisted of a long, consistent turn. He slowed down to ensure his car retained the minimal traction to remain straight. The tires were squeaking throughout the turn as he pushed the car at 60 mph. As the corner finally became the final straight, he pushed the car to its limit to try to keep his time as low as possible. He flew through the transmission, third, fourth, fifth, then crossed the finish right before he could shift to sixth.

He slowed the car to a stop, realizing he hadn't even glanced at Oromis' reactions throughout the track due to his focus. His face was neutral, which caused disappointment to course through Eragon, which was unusual with the adrenaline leaving his body. I didn't do well enough to shock him, he thought to himself.

Oromis spoke first, his voice enveloped in calm. "Do you know what the record on this track is?" Eragon shook his head, not trusting his voice yet. "The best single lap time was one minute, thirty-two seconds exactly. Do you know what your time was?" Eragon shook his head again. "It was two minutes, three seconds." Eragon wasn't sure if he did well or not, being his first time on the track. "That is one of the best rookie times I have ever seen on a track." The disappointment in Eragon vanished as he became ecstatic.

Finally trusting his voice, Eragon spoke. "So," he stopped himself for a moment to ensure he wouldn't stutter, "what does that mean for me?"

Oromis smiled. "That particular question is up to Saphira. We will know more once we talk to Glaedr and Saphira, but, as for future tests, they will wait for a future date. It was obvious that your arms need to rest." Eragon nodded again. Eragon looked to see Saphira and Glaedr walking towards them, followed by Arya and Orik.

Saphira

Everyone followed Glaedr into the tower. He moved with a purpose and it was rather difficult to casually walk behind him. Nobody spoke as they made their way to the top of the tower, despite Orik's occasional curse under his breath directed towards the height of the tower, which caused Saphira to smile at his fear of heights. When they finally made it to the top, Saphira saw the cube-shaped room after she caught her breath. The glass panes were angled outwards to allow viewers a more vertical view when looking down. Inside the room, there were various control panels with buttons for the lights throughout the track, with rolling office chairs and mounted TV's scattered. There was a fine layer of dust covering the TV's and panels from inconsistent use over recent years.

Saphira diverted her attention from the room and towards where Eragon and Oromis were sitting inside Arya's GT-R. The car was moving towards the starting line when Glaedr spoke. "I want you to observe as Eragon drive, nothing more. Once they finish, you can summarize anything that you notice."

"Will do" was Saphira's reply. She'd done this before, but Glaedr was always absent and Oromis didn't have time to talk.

Saphira watched Eragon's car stop at the starting line as she began to attempt to understand Eragon, but he was a huge mystery to her. On one hand, she felt like he was a very close friend, but it was as if she understood who he was more than facts about his life. Stories of Brom and the deaths of his parents were all she knew about his past.

Suddenly the Nissan sparked to life as the tires squealed, which brought Saphira from her thoughts. As the car maneuvered through the first and second turns, something struck Saphira that this is different than previous drivers. Something clicked into place, and it was as if she knew what Eragon was going to do before he did it, though vaguely.

Saphira wasn't paying attention to anyone in the tower as she solely focused on the track ahead of Eragon and his driving. While she couldn't see every detail due to the distance, she could watch as Eragon hit the e-brake, slammed on the brakes, performed a, rather exquisite, Scandinavian flick, and more. Saphira accurately predicted the Scandinavian flick. It's a hairpin. What else would he do? Saphira saw Eragon, in her head, moved to the outside of turns before he initiated the moves, which he always shortly followed her imagined image.

When the car began driving around the wide constant radius corner, Glaedr broke the silence. "Let's go meet them at the starting line," then he began walking down the stairs.

Saphira heard Orik say "so...many...stairs" before the three remaining teenagers in the tower began their descent.

Saphira decided to aggravate Orik by saying "you shouldn't complain so much, Orik. I hear it's bad for you." Orik didn't reply as they finished the first flight of stairs and continued through the rest of the stairs. When they finally reached the bottom, Orik was taking huge breaths while Arya looked completely normal. Saphira was definitely breathing heavier, but nowhere near as bad as Orik. Saphira spoke loud enough so Arya and Orik could here. "Cardio" was all she jokingly said as she began walking after Glaedr, not watching Orik's reaction.

She had to practically run to catch up with the man. Glaedr still didn't speak as they made their way to the parked GT-R. When they arrived, Eragon and Oromis had already gotten out. Saphira noted that Eragon was focused on the world now. Oromis began speaking. "Saphira, may I ask about your observations?"

Saphira was expecting a question like this from Oromis. "This was different than the previous racers. It was as if I knew how Eragon would take a particular corner before he did it, though I didn't know specifics because this is the first time I've seen him drive a car."

Oromis looked at Glaedr before continuing. "Okay, that will be enough for today. I believe Eragon needs a rest, and Glaedr and I have to go anyways. I'll have Arya contact you two about the next meeting."

Eragon nodded as Saphira replied with "okay." With that said, Oromis and Glaedr spoke their goodbyes before heading towards their car and leaving.

Eragon spoke next. "That was abrupt."

Arya replied first in a more serious tone. "They don't leave often for fear of Galbatorix finding them, which is a very real fear." A look of understanding crossed Eragon's face as he recalled the explanation earlier, then a look as if he had forgotten something flashed across his face before it vanished.

Saphira wanted to ask Eragon about his distance earlier, but she decided that Eragon was probably not ready for that conversation without eating a proper meal yet. With that, Orik seemed to decide to leave. His rough voice spoke. "I'm going to head out. I've got some business stuff to attend to before the day ends. See you guys Monday." He waved to the three of them and walked towards his Viper.

It was a gorgeous car that was entirely yellow, with two six inch wide stripes that went from the very front of the car to the absolute back of the car. The body was rounded with an extra-long hood, covered with various intake and outtake vents. The cab of the car retained an aerodynamic look until it slopes down towards the back, leading into the top of the trunk, where the spoiler rose out of. The car had a wide body look to it, with the fenders extending out more than the doors.

The main issue with Vipers were the huge amount of torque that made them hard to control, which sits at 600 ft-lbs. That can cause the car to be hard to control, especially when drifting around a tight corner.

As Orik climbed into his car, Saphira decided it was time for her to get back to her nap. The final three spoke their goodbyes as she walked back to her R8. The body was simple when compared to Arya's GT-R and Orik's Viper. The front of the car is very rounded, which gradually works its way up from the bumper, then grows horizontal as the hood covers the engine. At the back of the hood, the cab is low-profile, with the glass forming a shallow angle from the ground, as it moves to a rounded roof that slopes down to the trunk, which has a small spoiler on top. The doors have an indention that stops just before each back tire's respective fender, that is covered by a black piece of detailing, concluding the indention inches before the rear tire's start.

It wasn't a perfect car, by any means of the word, but it was an amazing car that did its job well. As she climbed in, she followed Orik out with Arya's GT-R behind her. Thinking about nothing but sleep, she drove to her house.

A/N

Mahavia-Thanks for the follow and review. I tried to implement your suggestions into this, but I'm honestly not sure how I did. They seem out of place to me. I can take a harder look at the cars' descriptions and some of the other stuff if they are out of place, but I wanted some more sets of eyes before I did. I completely agree with everything you said in your review and will try to fix all of those things in the future or implement them properly. I considered various ways to have some sort of mental connection(including some sort of brain implant), but I wouldn't even know where to begin with it to make it realistic to me either, so I probably won't do it. I might tag your review along with this chapter to double its length…and I might abandon this just to continue your curse...we shall see. Just kidding. In all seriousness, I don't plan on abandoning a story without giving some sort of explanation or timeframe.

Setting Sights-That was something I have been trying to work into the story. My biggest problem is describing something I can't see, so I might just google a school and use that. Two things I suck at: making decisions and inventing images.

Asnari-First missed deadline...hopefully the last. I'm not happy with Colonel about that essay. I think I know how I'm going to do Saphira and Eragon's relationship. Now I just have to put it into words.

That's about it. Please leave a review about what you think.