Nothing to Nobody
Everyone got soaked in crew practice today. We had to do thirty push-ups because we messed up putting the boat (which is heavier than the one we usually row) in the water twice. We couldn't do girl push-ups either, and we're all girls. The water was really rough. It sucked. Except when the coach did an impression of stern pair talking. Then it was funny. The sad thing was this wasn't our first practice; we've been doing this for like a month. At least we're still novices.
Disclaimer: I have never and do not now own Eragon. Considering the fact that I wrote a fic called Why Galbatorix Is Lame, Cp will probably kill Eragon off in Empire than give me the rights to it. Speaking of Empire, the preview came out in Eldest Deluxe Edition. (I read it in a book store.) It's awesome. Read it if you can.
Shaheen stood in the center of the sparring field. It was late, and all the elves had left. She was supposed to teach Ardis to spar properly because she was the only one with decent, human-level abilities in Ellesméra, and Eragon was too busy. Roran had come because he was bored.
"Alright," she began, "you must first correct your stance. You're too tense."
Ardis loosened up.
"Now you're not tense enough," the older girl corrected.
Ardis sighed. She finally came up with the correct posture.
Shaheen continued to correct her the entire time. The young rider seems to grow frustrated. Noticing her grimace, the former slave snapped, "At least I'm being nice about it. When my sister Tahira tried to teach me, she was so strict, my oldest sister, Leyla, had to teach me instead."
"I'm trying. I'm just not very good," Ardis screamed back.
Shaheen sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to keep you from being killed in battle."
They sparred for another hour. Ardis made some improvement, but she knew she was not at the level of the elves.
"It's your turn now," Shaheen stated as she turned to Roran, who was sitting on the ground.
He looked up at her.
"Wait. You weren't supposed to teach me," he protested.
"Eragon was concerned for your welfare as well," Shaheen replied innocently.
Roran scowled, and then his face changed as an idea came to his mind.
"That's all well and good. I'll accept it on one condition: you let me teach you archery, and I can be as mean as you are to me," Roran shot back.
Shaheen's mouth dropped. Archery had been the one thing all of Tahira's yelling, all of Leyla's patience, and all of Sanchez's teasing about her poor aim had never been able to teach her.
"You don't like it?" Roran asked.
"I accept," Shaheen said grudgingly.
Roran laughed. Shaheen scowled. This lesson lasted an hour too. Ardis sat and watched.
Shaheen had never taught somebody who had never touched a sword in their life, and it was hard. Roran didn't even know how to hold his.
"We're done," she panted after an hour. They had gotten to a mock battle, and Roran had become over-zealous and tripped them both while trying to parry.
She suddenly didn't blame Tahira for getting angry, and she marveled at Leyla's patience. She sighed, missing her two older sisters.
Roran grinned evilly. "Your turn," he whispered. Shaheen picked up a bow and arrow. Ardis seemed to find it amusing to watch them.
"Now," Roran explained strictly, "point it directly at the target and shoot."
Shaheen obeyed and pointed the bow and arrow. She thought it looked lined up and shot. It missed the mark.
"Don't hesitate. Shoot the moment the arrow is lined up with the target. Don't celebrate because you got it right," Roran corrected.
Shaheen groaned, tried, and missed again.
"It wasn't lined up," Roran explained. "You shot too soon." He seemed to be enjoying this.
"You want me to shoot quickly. So I do. Then you tell me that's wrong. Will you make up your mind?" she yelled.
"It's a precise art. It has to be exactly right. Ardis does it perfectly. Please, demonstrate,"
Roran continued as though he hadn't heard her.
Ardis picked up her bow and arrow and shot. She hit the bull's-eye in the center. She bowed and sat back down.
"Very good, Ardis," Roran stated. "Now, you try."
Roran seemed to be loosing his patience as Shaheen tried and failed to hit even the edge of the target again and again. He picked up his own bow, shot the arrow, and hit the center of the target.
"This is what you do," he began, yelling. He grabbed her hands, placed her fingers on the bow as they should be, and raised her arms to face the target.
"Now, breathe and release," he shouted. Shaheen obeyed and the arrow struck near the center.
"Thank the gods that didn't prove too complicated for you," Roran said, sitting down.
Shaheen turned and stared at him. She picked up her bow again and shot. She hit the target somewhere on the outer ring.
"Now, we're making progress," Roran stated, sounding relieved.
Shaheen glanced at him. He sat next to Ardis and watched her. She couldn't tell if he was joking or being serious.
"An hours up," Shaheen remarked.
"So it is," Roran agreed.
All three set off towards their respective lodgings.
A month and a half later
Lenori was lying asleep when the voices began again. The blond man from her last attack was yelling at her.
"You stupid girl! Insolent child! You have not obeyed me. What must I do to teach you manners?" he yelled. He shook her.
"Morzan, it's not working. I say we kill her and let another one take her place," a dark man spoke up.
"That will not work. Here we have the bringer with Galbatorix.. He has the walker. He can get the opener soon. Killing her would give nothing to nobody, and we can't take our chances with somebody else," Morzan shot back.
"I don't see why we all should listen to you," the man shouted.
"First to join, last to die. Wasn't that it, Adoro?" the female who had given her the riddle spoke up, stepping from the shadows.
"I think it was first and last, Den-ner," a man with light brown hair and cold blue eyes spoke up.
Morzan looked angry.
"That attitude, Adoro, is exactly what got you killed first!" Morzan yelled.
"You were killed by the same man I was killed by!" Adoro retaliated.
"Funny how you two are united in death as you two never were in life," the man with the light brown hair spoke up.
"I don't know how you lasted as long as you did. Honestly, Ligan, second-to-last," Morzan whispered, shaking his head.
"He was a dirty, stinking coward, Morzan. We all know that," Den-ner put in.
Ligan's face looked dangerous. "You were of less value than one of his shades, Den-ner. How do you feel about that?"
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Den-ner snapped.
"The elf that killed you and your dragon was captured by that shade Durza," Ligan responded triumphantly.
Den-ner looked like an angry cat with her slanting black eyes.
"You and Morzan are the only two who fathered children, Ligan. Isn't that right? As I remember it, you never even saw the girl, and we all know how Morzan treated his child," Den-ner volleyed. "Death has been quite informative about all of you."
"Do not talk to me about that!" Morzan yelled.
Den-ner smiled slightly.
"It is nice being woman. You men would be surprised. It's my turn to watch the earth and be safe from torment more than any of you," she told them.
Morzan shook his head. "You're as rotten as the rest of us. And as I recall, I lasted longer than all of you."
"Enough of this!" Adoro cried, turning to Lenori again. She had hoped they'd forgotten her.
"Listen to me, girl. Go to the king, or you will regret it," he whispered, leaning over her ear.
Lenori broke down crying. Adoro looked at her in disgust. He forced her to her feet, knocked her to the ground as hard as he could (and he could quite hard), and kicked in the ribs with equal force.
Morzan and Den-ner grabbed his arms and pulled him back.
"You fool! She is worthless. If you've killed her…" Morzan shouted.
"Isn't that what would happen to her anyway?" the man shot back.
"She is not here in body! You kill her this way she is nothing to nobody!" Morzan was shouting.
"Double negative, Morzan," Ligan remarked dryly.
Morzan glared at him.
Lenori was half aware of what was going on in this world and half aware of what was going on in the other world. Her heart was pounding faster than ever, and she was coughing. She saw something reddish come out of her mouth. She was coughing blood now. She saw Ligan grind his heel against her chest. The world went black. The last thing she heard was a voice saying, "Well done, Adoro. Maybe the next one will bring us more luck."
Miles away in Surda, Elva awoke. She could what sounded like three men and one woman arguing about something that had just happened. One of them had killed somebody called "the bringer".
She too had been cursed, but this was something entirely different. This wasn't the same as knowing others misfortunes; it was foreign compared to that. What was it, though?
Elva felt her stomach lurch, and she retched on her bedside rug.
"What is wrong, Elva?" her caretaker, Greta asked anxiously.
"Nothing," the girl rasped as the voices ceased. She was still a bit of an adult, though she no longer was burdened with others misfortunes. Fate had felt compelled to give her a new curse. Elva hated fate. She did not speak to Greta as she rolled over onto her side. Sleep eventually came.
Sorry this chapter was so short. Just in case some people didn't get that, the four people in Lenori's vision were Foresworn. We know what happened to Morzan. Ligan died second-to-last. It was on the hunt for Saphira's egg. Adoro was the first to die, and Brom killed him. Den-ner died somewhere in between Adoro and Ligan, and Arya killed her. In this story, there's one female Foresworn. CP might not do that, but I think it's alright. Here are the review responses.
Paragon: Thanks. I don't know if that's true, and I don't think it is, but thank you for the compliment.
Amantine: A regatta is a boat race. I row at my school. At least we haven't started practicing at five in the morning. I've heard you get used to that, though.
Deer-shifter: You'll see what happens with Eragon and Ardis in about two or three chapters. I'm glad you did contribute.
Elemir: Yes, she was.