I own nothing save original plot, characters and techniques.
Thank you guys for the reviews favorites and follows. Never expected this to actually get any kind of following. Also please note, the Quincy spirit's name is supposed to be Luna, not Mond. That was just a place holder, and I forgot to change it. Now, on with the story.
xXxX xXxX xXxX
After what seemed like hours of walking, I finally could see the base of the tree. It was close to 10 miles tall and at least 4 miles wide. But the size of it wasn't the strangest thing about it. Built into the side of the tree was a large house. Nothing fancy, but it was 7 stories tall, and half a mile long.
"Well, I reckon that'd be where I need to go." I reached the plain oak door, brushed the ash off of myself, and opened them.
The door opened up into a large sitting room, where five beings sat on cushions. The first, a mountainous purple dragon, its face covered in a bone like substance, with black tribal flame like markings covering it.
The second, a large wolf, with fur as white as fresh fallen snow, save for the black patch at the tip of her tail.
The third an equally large fox, with fur an ash grey, and ten long tails, gently waving behind her.
The fourth figure was a woman of unearthly beauty, with her long, flowing, silver hair, with eyes the color of the midday sky, a face that wouldn't look out of place on a princess, and a figure that women everywhere would sell their souls for. But her most distinguished feature was the pair of white wings folded behind her, that rather than being feathered, looked to be made of a slow moving flame like substance. And she was dressed in a pure white sundress.
The fifth, and by far the smallest figure, a tiny blue dragon, no bigger than a newborn kitten, sitting in the womans lap. After taking in the beings sat before me
"Well, if I was a bettin' man, I'd say the five of you are my spirits." I tipped my metaphorical hat, and introduced myself. "The names John Colt, and it a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Well, hello there John, it's a pleasure to meet you too. As I'm sure you are aware, my name is Luna, and I am the embodiment of your Quincy powers." Her voice was exactly as you'd expect coming from a woman of her beauty. Soft and lilting, with an almost musical quality to it. The another spoke up.
"Hello John. My name is Rava, the embodiment of your avatar powers." Her voice was loud, proud and upbeat, with an almost motherly quality to it.
Then came another voice, this one rough and gravely, like the voice of a wizened old woman.
"And I am Cazador Del Sol, the embodiment of your inner Hollow. But please, call me Cinder, for that was my name in life."
Immediately after, came a fourth voice, this one clear, and filled with the strength of youth, like that of a woman barely out of her teens, but with an underlying, yet undeniable power just under the surface.
"Yo, What's up? The name's Alana, and I'm the Jyuubi."
Luna cleared her throat and spoke up again. "And the little one here is Ryujin, also known as Saphira. Now, we all know that you came here to try and retrieve Saphira, so take her and return to the real world. There will be plenty of time to talk later. I'm sure Arya is beside herself with worry by now."
I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah you're probably right." I walked over to Luna and retrieved the dozing dragon from her lap. "It really was nice to meet you ladies, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry you are trapped in my head like this." I bowed my head slightly to the four of them, and then will myself back to the waking world.
xXxX xXxX xXxX
I opened my eyes, and saw Arya across the fire from me, looking both relieved and very confused. It took only a moment of figure out why. I felt a slight shift in the weight on my lap and looked down. Where previously there was a sword, now sat a sleeping dragon. I gave the elfin princess a cheesy grin, and said "Found her!"
She only continued to look absolutely bewildered, and asked, "What the hell just happened? You pulled that sword out of thin air, sat in that strange position on the ground, close your eyes for a few minutes, and then the sword, you know the one you PULLED FROM THIN AIR, SUDDENLY CHANGES INTO A DRAGON, THE SAME DRAGON THAT VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE, AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS 'FOUND HER?"
By this point she was breathing very heavily from the effort of shouting loud enough that I was positive Islandzadí had heard her.
I let my grin fall, looked her dead in the eyes, and asked "Do you really want to know? I could make you very angry, it could change to way you look at the world, or it could break your mind irreparably. You sure you want to take that risk?"
She stared at me almost defiantly and replied "Yes I'm sure."
Continuing to maintain a stern face and eye contact. "Well, alrighty then, in that case…" I paused here for dramatic effect. "Its…. A secret!" I finished with a cheerful smile. Arya on the other hand looked ready to murder me on the spot. "Look, to be quite frank, what just happened is a need to know kind of thing, and you don't need to know. I assure you, if you needed to know, I'd tell you, but you don't. Now, let get a move on. Got some spies to kill, and some training to do."
I dismissed Saphira back to my mindscape, and tossed Ryujin back into my inventory. Then I got to my feet and crouched down low enough for a person to climb on my back. "Hop on, and point me toward the Varden." I could practically hear her seething in anger.
"I'll do no such thing. I'm not made of glass, I am perfectly capable of running," she said with a huff.
"Yeah, I know you elves are fast, but you're nowhere near as fast as I am. Now get on my back, or I'm going to throw you over my shoulder like a sack of feed. It's your choice." Within a few seconds of me giving her the ultimatum, I heard her slowly shuffle to her feet, all the while grumbling under her breath about treating her like a fragile human woman. She reluctantly climbed on my back, and rested her hands on my shoulders. "Darlin, that ain't gonna cut it." I reached up, grabbed her hands and pulled her as tight to my back as I could get her, wrapped her arms around my neck, then grabbed two handfuls of her ass, and hiked her further up my back. This time I could feel her heating up in anger. "That's better. Now you won't fall off. Now, which way is the Varden?"
"To the South-east. Go till you either come across the mountains, or the first river after crossing the Desert." I could hear the white-hot anger in her voice.
"Alright, sounds like a plan. Well, let's be off." I took a second to use my air bending, telekinesis, and a bit of magic to create a vaguely bullet shaped wall of air, so we wouldn't be buffeted by the incredibly high wind speeds, put a few vent around the bottom so we wouldn't suffocate, bent my legs, and said "Hold on. This is gonna be a wild ride. Also you have a very nice ass." And with that, I was off , running as fast as my sprint could carry me, towards Farthen Dur.
xXxX xXxX xXxX
After an hour of sprinting, and using my telekinesis to keep Arya from crushing my throat, we arrived at the first river after crossing the Desert. And also, luckily enough, right at the base of the Beors. My Luck stat had kicked in and I just happened to run right into the valley where the waterfall that hid the entrance to the Varden.
I slid to a halt at the shore of the lake, and knelt so Arya could dismount. Quickly, almost comically so, she jumped off my back and laid on the ground panting.
"What the hell was that?" she asked through her panting breaths.
I chuckled and replied, "Darlin, that was me taking a leisurely run. Nowhere near my top speed. Now as soon as you get done napping, do what ever you gotta do to get us into the Varden. Got me some traitors to kill."
She sat bolt upright and looked at me with a confused, and worried look on her face.
"Traitors? In the Varden? Who? Who has betrayed us?"
"I do not know their names, but they are referred to as the Twins." I replied in the ancient language to ensure she knew I wasn't lying.
"What? But they've been with the Varden for years!" She exclaimed in shock.
"And they've been feeding info to Galbatorix the entire time. Now, if you will get us into the Varden, I'll slaughter the rats, and then go from there." I made a shoo-in motion with my hands, and got another hard glare in return. Then she walked over to the shore grabbed a rock, banged it on the cliff side a few times, shouted something in the Ancient language. Then I heard the sound of creaking gates, and drew back the hammer of my soul, ready to project a pair of Gae Bolgs, in case the twins were there. From behind the waterfall walked my targets, right next to a dark-skinned man, who I assumed was Ajihad. I brought my hammer down, and spawned the two spears, flooded their mysteries with as much prana as they could take without Breaking, and thrust them forward.
"GAE BOLG!" The red demonic spears pierced the hearts of the traitors, after shredding the deflection wards around them. A look of shock passed across their faces. Then they dropped to the ground, now just corpses cooling in pools of their own blood. The others in the greeting party drew weapons, and charged me.
"STOP! They were traitors!" shouted Arya. The charging warriors slide to a halt, and Ajihad whipped his head around to Arya in shock. "Its true. He swore in the Ancient language." Ajihad then whipped his gaze back around to me.
"How did you discover this?" he asked me in shock.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that." Then I opened my inventory and dumped out Brom and Murtagh, much to the shock of everyone present.
"Now, my business with the Varden concluded, make sure Murtagh stays safe. I'll be back in six months time to kill Galbatorix. Goodbye." I turned around and walked away, subvocalizing an I.d create command and vanished.
xXxX xXxX xXxX
Alright everyone, that's it for this chapter. Sorry it's so late, but it took awhile for my muse to come back to me. It's been a hard few weeks with a couple of deaths in the family, and my depression hitting me like a freight train. But my muse is back in full force, and you might see another chapter in the next few days. It will be the final confrontation with Galbatorix, the introduction of the next world(which will get far more chapters than Inheritance has) as well as the mechanic that will make John seem much, much less like an OP OC. Till next time, PEACE!