If I was Christopher Paolini I'd be writing the 4th inheritance book, not spending time on a freaking fanfiction site!

Chapter 3

Getting to know you

After Murtagh recovered from his brief riding-on-werecat-related sickness we set off again, this time heading away from Terim, to a place called the 'Edur Ithindra' It was made by elves, and now housed my slightly mad, magic using, great uncle.

I'd had the misfortune of living there for a time, the elders of my clan, or the 'Diyjakih' had decided that they would track down the closest relative they could find and place me in his or her care. Unfortunately for me, Tenga had chosen that moment to act completely normal, dooming me to hours on end of 'searching for the answer' and beatings when I couldn't find it.

To save my sanity, I'd taken to carving things out of wood with my nails. It was amazing how lifelike you could make something look when the carving utensil was attached to your hand. Tenga was quite taken with the little figurines, and stole them from me after they were finished, making a collection that sat atop the fire place, praising me and calling me, 'good cat'

Being related to Tenga also meant that I was part human, meaning I could use magic. In one of Tenga's sane moments he'd told me I possessed great promise, then he went batty and demanded that I make another squirrel.

However the idea stayed in my head, though I had absolutely no idea how to use magic, I vowed that I would make someone explain to me, even if it meant holding them at the point of a nail.

Eventually, I'd run away to Surda, where I joined the varden and stayed there for four years before I was sent on this ridiculous mission, due to the fact that I was almost indestructible.

I became aware of a small dot on the horizon as dusk approached, alerting us to the fact that my great uncles house was only a few leagues away.

"Um, Murtagh?" I asked him, slowing my pace a little as the elven tower came into view, reluctant to visit, no matter for how short a time

"Yeah?"

"I should probably warn you, my great uncle can, um, be a little strange" I sighed, aware of the long explanation ahead

"Strange?"

"He's mad" I answered in response, bowing my head.

"What?" Shouted Murtagh "No way, we ain't not spending time with a loony, I don't care how unsafe it is to go to a hotel"

I sighed "You just used a double negative"

"A… What?"

"When you deny something, then deny it again, making it positive"

"Whatever" He rolled his eyes, but didn't continue walking

"C'mon, it'll be fine! Beats a shade any day!"

He hesitated, his eyes hovering once on my nails, he sighed.

"Alright, fine" he answered, giving up, though still tense. "He better not try and eat us or something"

"Why in the world would he try and eat us?"

"Some loonies do that, haven't you heard?"

"Murtagh, that's cannibals" I giggled, causing him to smile with dim realization

"Oh, yeah"

We were a few feet away when I started to get really nervous. He had somehow managed to harvest all the vegetables, so he would probably have a stew ready, but still, it was hard to forget all the horrible things he'd tried to do to me, and I wasn't sure how he'd take my sudden re-appearance.

To my shock, I heard someone other than Tenga inside the house, his voice was husky but not all that deep, I estimated him to be about 17 summers old, around my age.

"Those are beautiful" He said, I guessed that he was indicating my statues "Who made them?"

"She did….. Before she left. She was always making things" I heard my uncle reply, age hadn't done him well, he sounded madder. I cringed when I realized he still remembered me.

I put my eye to the key hole and saw my great uncle bound up to the squirrel, I couldn't see the stranger for he was behind a bookshelf but I could sense his un-ease, even from here.

"Here the squirrel with his waving tail, he so bright and swift and full of laughing gibes" His finger drifted to the next statue in line, the boar "Here the savage boar, so deadly with his slashing tusks….Here the Raven with…" I stopped listening, the stranger had moved.

The man looked part elf, save for his bronze hair and blue eyes, colours the elves didn't posses. His skin was tanned and calloused. But what caught my attention was the silvery mark on his palm.

The gedwëy ignasia.

That meant that this man was Eragon, rider of the dragon Saphira. He looked so different from the last time I'd seen him, when he was getting a blade forged and Maud took me and Farren to see him.

I realised that the difference was that he looked like a man now, not a boy.

"Eragon" I hissed at him, "Get out here!"

To my surprise he came, Though he looked incredibly surprised, as did Murtagh, I guessed they'd met before. I dragged them both through the fields till my great uncles ramblings became background noise.

"What are you doing here? Alone? No protection whatsoever!" I growled at him, holding him by the shirtfront.

"Tenga is a magician!" I continued "You could've died!"

"You look familiar" Was his only reply "Have we met?"

I sighed and let go before answering his question. "Not directly no, I believe I was introduced to you as an elven child"

"Oh" He answered, though he still looked confused "Aren't ….you?"

"Hell no" I grinned wryly "Elven kids are way to uptight"

"She's a werecat" Piped up Murtagh, looking at Eragon with something that was almost … Hatred.

"Why are you here?" Asked Eragon, directing his question at Murtagh. He looked angry.

"I believe I should be asking you that" Answered Murtagh, calm, save for the tiny spark of annoyance that glinted in his eyes.

"Yes" I agreed, siding with Murtagh, against the odds "I'd like to know that too. Where's your dragon?"

"Saphira is with the varden"

Then I rounded on Murtagh, realising that they must know each other, it wasn't normal to be so hostile against strangers.

"How do you know each other?"

"We travelled together for a time" sighed Murtagh, Looking at Eragon in a way that was almost pleading

"Before you betrayed the varden and joined Galbatorix" Continued Eragon ruthlessly, and I almost felt sorry for Murtagh before it dawned on me. Murtagh was a spy. He didn't care about me at all.

I extended a nail, tripped him and held it against his neck, in a movement so fluid, so fast, that neither of them realised what had happened till Murtagh was on the ground. With me fighting the urge to simply kill him.

"Give me three reasons why I shouldn't jab this into your throat!" Stupid lying bastard. How dare he betray the freedom fighters!

"No, Twilly you don't understand, I had to, I-"

"Had to?!?" I screeched, what was wrong with this man? I should cut his tongue out for his lies!

"Look!" He said, undoing the lacing that tied up his glove "I'm a dragon rider, my dragon's red too, his name is Thorn"

He didn't seem to realise that this piece of information had made my decision.

Murtagh had to die.

The number of innocents he'd killed, the number he would kill if I let him go, it was too much. I had to kill him before any more deaths occurred.

"Murtagh" I said in a whisper "I'm sorry Murtagh but I have to, your to great a threat"

"What! No, Twilly-"

I advanced slowly towards him, actually regretting what I was about to do.

"Twilly! Wait! Think of all the times I could've killed you, all the chances I had of taking the egg and-"

"Egg?" Interrupted Eragon "What egg?"

It was funny, I'd actually forgotten that he was right there beside us, I'd been so intent on the job ahead that I'd simply overlooked him, and when he spoke I jumped about two feet in the air, extending a nail and only just changing its flying course to his neck in time.

"The one in Terim, surely you've heard the rumours?" I said when I composed myself, Eragon still looked slightly horrified.

"I haven't been in a town for weeks" He said shakily "I'm a bit behind in the times"

Murtagh stayed on the ground, but his next words were directed at me,

"Listen Twilly, the reason I was in Terim that day was to find a herbalist, I think her name was Angela, Someone said she was with the varden, I wanted to join" He said, practically begging

I hesitated.

"But, surely you have spoken vows? Galbatorix isn't so mad that he would set a dragon rider free without assurance that he would come back?"

"Yes, I have" he said, still pleading "But Eragon said, last time we met, that he could break them."

I turned away and raised my eyebrows at Eragon.

"How will you change him?" I asked

"Wha- you mean you aren't gonna kill him?"

"How will you change him?" I repeated, turning a nail on him and changing my expression so that it was befitting of my anger.

"I-I don't know, I didn't really think that far"

"Liar!" I screamed, I could feel the change coming, oh lord don't t let it happen, but there were too many emotions conflicting at once, and I felt myself change into a form that would better express my anger.

"Twilly" Yelled Murtagh, I felt him grab my clothes, pull me, turn me, while I worked impossibly hard to contain the feelings that coursed through me, the urges to rip, to tear…

"Twilly! What's wrong with you?" Wrong with me? Oh lords give me patience, what was wrong with him? Couldn't he see that I wasn't in control? Couldn't he see that the panther form I was in now was standing erect? And that my eyes were red instead of blue?

"Run! Run before I-" I managed to gasp out, before I lost the use of a mouth that could talk and gained the use of one that could kill.

But he wasn't moving, neither of them were. Oh run you fools! Can't you see that I'm not myself? Or do you need me to rip out your organs before you truly understand?

I could smell the blood running in their veins; feel the fluttering pulse of their heartbeat.

And just like that, I lost control.

I ran at them, snarling, biting, and tearing. My mouth closed on one of their wrists, I didn't care whose it was, I could taste the blood. The glorious, salty taste of blood.

"TWILLY!" One of them yelled, I no longer cared which. I felt myself be hoisted up in the air by a force invisible to me. Even through the hazy fog in my brain I knew what it was, magic.

I snarled and thrashed, trying with all my strength to break free from the bonds that held me so tightly.

"Eragon!" Gasped Murtagh, clearly fatigued by the amount of effort I'd used to try and break free "I…C-can't hold her-"

I felt Eragon join forces with him, my bonds tightened physically, I could no longer move, not even to blink.

"T-Twilly?" Murtagh asked cautiously, "Twilly, are you okay?"

His voice was all I needed to change back, and I did, collapsing on the ground as their magic failed.

To my surprise Murtagh ran forward, chanting my name over and over, asking if I was okay.

I jumped up, scrambling to my feet as fast as I could manage, then stepped back, shaking my head and moving away slowly. I wasn't safe any more. Not after this.

"I'm sorry" I whispered to them both, more so to Murtagh than Eragon.

"Twilly-" But I was running, transforming into my safer cat form as I bounded away, to my surprise I heard Eragon's voice not far behind me, though whatever he was shouting had been rendered incoherent by my speed.

Something huge and red dropped out of the sky before me, a dragon, Thorn by the looks of things, as Murtagh was riding him.

I halted, then turned and started running the other way.

Darn you Eragon! I thought and whirled around again in the other direction, halting again when Murtagh jumped out of the saddle and ran towards me.

They were both closing in, I transfigured and extended my nails in warning, this halted Eragon, but Murtagh kept running. Curse him.

I hissed at him, making him falter, though only slightly slowing his maniac pace.

He got closer, and closer, before he finally slammed into me, nearly knocking me off my feet.

He had his arms around my waist and his head on my shoulder; to my shock I felt hot tears run down my back as well,

"Oh, Twilly, thank god" He murmured, and somehow, amazingly, I knew things would be okay between us.

Whatever happened.

A/N

Sorry about the corny ending, review please, no-one has yet, I don't really care but don't let that stop you.

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