reluctant rider

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian was sitting in what had been the battlefield during the fight against Galbatorix. He was alone just staring at the trampled grass. He had been so scared to go into battle, he was only 15 and not very experienced as a rider. He'd never killed anyone before this battle, that troubled him a lot to have killed enemy soldiers. He couldn't think of them as the enemy. He'd only done it at his dragon's urging and because he didn't want to let Eragon down. Sephora, his dragon, had been severely injured and he'd been unable to heal her, he'd panicked and she'd ended up having to save him and getting injured even worse. The elves had offered to take care of her after the battle. She was with them getting healed, since he wasn't strong enough to do it himself.

A few tears escaped and rolled down his face. It was bad enough that he felt like a liability, but he'd finally found his father. When he was young his father and brother had been drafted into Galbatorix's army. He'd been searching for his father holding onto hope. And he had found him during the battle only to have their almost reunion stopped short when his father was killed by a varden member. He felt so alone now, he didn't know what to do. The gleaming golden sword, Naegling, Ormis' former blade, lay in his lap. Why hadn't he been able to save his father, he hadn't been able to help Sephora either.

[Brenton]

The journey had been arduous and rather bothersome at times when a certain ferocious three month old dragon decided she was done with training and demanded they go search out the battle with the Empire. Yet for all of those troubling moments, Chase Warrensson had still insisted on taking it slower and learning more about what they could do. Because of his strict regimen he had developed as the guard of Therinsford, the teenager had built up a plethora of different combat skills. Whether they be from the simple sword and crossbow combo or his more advanced double helix that when executed properly could get him from in the middle of four soldiers and behind the last one alive. It took extreme skill, which Asuni knew about, so he was ready for a battle. Yet the dragon wasn't.

All she wanted to do was neglect combat training and play with whatever poor animal got in her way that particular day. It was difficult to get her to notice that while she had the build and appearance of a true warrior dragon, she would have to be better if she wanted to go up against the likes of Shruikan.

So they had finally arrived at Uru'baen the very moment that the healers started working on all of the injured dragons and soldiers. Many of them were stronger than Asuni and if they had been so badly wounded then she would have been killed. As Chase took this all in, he saw a young rider sitting on the field forlornly staring at his golden rider sword. With some muttered words of calming to Asuni, the rider walked over and sat beside Caspian.

Uh, by any chance would you happen to know where I can find a dragon rider of the Varden? I need to ask them a few questions about how to properly raise Asuni here. Truthfully he already knew the answers he would seek but it was a good way to start a conversation with another young rider.

[Quetzal]

She had promised herself there would be no more hiding, so she had snuck into Uru'baen before the battle. Then what had she done? As soon as the real fighting had neared, she had got scared and hidden with another young girl. The seven-year-old was frustrated with herself. "There was no other way. You would have died otherwise. Really died. You should never have been there, shouldn't have seen what you saw and you shouldn't have shut me out," she could tell how furious the snow leopard was with her. Sheratan was lurking somewhere nearby, keeping an eye on the warg, but was too upset with her to go near her. She wanted her to know that it wasn't all right to do these things. It had terrified her thinking of the risk the girl was taking and couldn't forgive her for taking those risks too easily. "If you really want to see danger, you know what you have to do. Train. You have a gift but you never use it."

Lately Sheratan had been telling Farria to make more use of whatever abilities came with being a warg. The two didn't even know that yet, save Farria's ability to turn into a snow leopard. They suspected her knack for hiding and being completely unseen even in broad daylight was something to do with being a warg. The main thing the animal she was bonded to was trying to persuade her to do was talk. She thought maybe there was some special magic she could do, but there was no way to find out unless she spoke. Her mental powers were decent, but she had never attempted to cast a spell since she refused to utter a single word. Farria didn't care. She did her utmost never to use any of her warg powers, and she liked it that way. She never changed into a snow leopard for fear of losing control as she had done on every occasion thus far, and any magic stuff was avoided by the lack of speech.

Nearby were a couple of young men, or boys, they were a lot older than her and she wasn't sure whether or not they looked old enough to be adults. Farria approached slowly. There was a dragon nearby, so at least one of them was a Rider. She was used to Riders, spending most of her time around them. Eragon had taken her to the Varden in the first place, and he had made sure she was doing well while by extension being around him meant she met plenty of other Rider. She hovered near them, not sure if she was welcome to join. After all, she wasn't much of a conversationalist. One she recognised as Caspian, a friend of Eragon, and the other she had never seen before. They were both Riders then. Sephora must be someone else, and the other dragon had to be the stranger's.

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian looked up startled by the voice of the other rider. "Huh oh yeah, I'm one but you should probably find Eragon or one of the others," he said. "I probably can't help you with that." He didn't have a lot of confidence in being anyone's mentor or adviser. "Who are you anyways?" he added. He didn't recognize the other rider. The sight of the dragon didn't phase him he was used to seeing dragons now though at one point it would've terrified him.

He glanced over seeing the girl there and waved at her. Seeing her brought a slight smile to his lips for the first time since well probably since Sephora hatched for him. He'd had a lot happen to him during his life, he wasn't even that old yet.

[Brenton]

((Guess I will post so we can continue. David Lightningsword jump in whenever))

Chase smiled slightly at the obvious uncertainty of answering questions coming from this rider before him. Since that was the case then it would be best to move past that. My name is Chase Warrensson of Therinsford. And this is my friend and probably closest ally in all of the world, Asuni. If you are a Rider then you would know basic questions such as how large a dragon grows and when I need to worry about things catching on fire. As for Eragon, he wouldn't have any reason to speak with me right after the war and during a time of regrowth.

[David Lightningsword]

It was hard to believe that in a few short months David and Zeus were already amongst the older riders, so many had spurt up after Galbatorix's stash had been found, so many young riders and dragons.. David was already expected by the youngsters to know everything and be able to teach them. Well David had not taken on any padawan quite yet, as he was still one himself to Brenton. The two needed eachother whether or not Brenton liked to admit it. Brenton passed on his knowledge of dragon raising, swords play, magic, riding and all of that, while David kept him calm and normally took the lead in delicate situations. Their chemistry worked out nicely, and David was not about to mess with it.. though Zeus did need a live dragon to teach him things Brenton just could not. They were still searching, but as there was still much to do to iron out this new empire, none had the time. Heralda tried her best, but she needed her own set of wings to truely teach Zeus... more than once she had offered up the idea of asking Saphira.. but David shot her down stated how they were too busy to teach anyone quite yet.

He and Zeus were up in the sky just enjoying the air high up when David saw a few of the youngest riders congregating and David assumed that it would be prudent to join them, so he did. Zeus decended and landed a short ways behind them with a thud and the ground shaking a little. He was not big enough course to cause a large tremor, but the shortest and softest one he could cause given the right amount of force. David dismounted and walked up to them with Zeus beside him. He kept a hand on Zeus's neck the whole time. "Is there anyway I can assist you, my young brothers and sister?" He asked kindly, preforming the Elven sign of Fealty to them.

[Emiryal ♕]

bump for Quetzal

[Quetzal]

((I'll post soon, sorry! Got exams starting in two weeks and it's elections at the theatre tomorrow so I've been busy))

[Emiryal ♕]

( sounds busy. Good luck on the exams and the elections. )

[Quetzal]

((Thanks! Exams are still... bleh... but elections went well, I got onto committee so I'll be one of the people running the theatre next year!

Also David, you seem to be thinking this is months after the battle, but if you look at Emi's first post I think this is supposed to be a few days after when she shock hasn't worn off yet))

Farria smiled back at Caspian, walking up to the small gathering. She listened to what they said, looking at the newcomer curiously. Another young Rider with a young dragon. She was surprised he'd waited this long before asking for help with his dragon being as big as it was. If he didn't know how to raise it, it must have been far more of a concern when the dragon was tiny and less able to defend itself, before she was able to tell him what her needs were. Now at least she must be able to speak to him to let him know when she was hungry, or why she wasn't able to do something.

The third male Rider to join was far more formal in his approach. Farria recognised him as David, one of the new Riders to find their dragons from the eggs stashed by the Empire. He'd been a good soldier before, from what she'd heard. Good for him. There were so many dragons around since she'd started living with the Varden they didn't make her so much as bat an eyelid any more. The beasts were just a part of everyday life. There was far weirder magic she understood much less going on within herself. It often felt like she would never understand that, which was a large part of the reason she never dared use it.

Bright green eyes flicked between the two young dragons present. Obviously they could put up more of a fight than Sheratan, but the snow leopard was useful to have around to deal with unfriendly people. These ones were friends, thankfully, unless Chase and Asuni were lying. The child walked closer to Asuni, reaching out a hand to her to gauge her reaction. She was confident the stranger wasn't going to hurt them, so this was her way of greeting the dragon.[/blockquote]

[David Lightningsword]

(Okay, forget the whole Zeus bit, just assume he walked up with Zeus on his shoulder or something. He's still knowledgeable enough to offer aid to basically any new rider from his years of research.)

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian nodded and dipped his head a bit in respect for the dragon. "I'm Caspian Tarlach of well it doesn't matter my town was destroyed some time ago. I am a rider but I'm not as experienced as some of the others. I guess I know a few of those questions," he said. "Eragon probably is busy with the aftermath."

He perked up and glanced at the sky suddenly, a moment later a glint of gold fell out of the clouds. With a flap of her wings Sephora slowed her fall and drifted to the ground. She seemed happy to be back in the air and healed up. She came over to Caspian and nudged him playfully before glancing at the others.

[Brenton]

Asuni, having encountered many of these smaller two legs, stood easily while the youngling walked toward her. Yet when the dragon caught the scent of a large cat on this child, that indifference changed to wariness. Within seconds, the dragon was low to the ground and watching carefully for any predatory motions. In this world, a monstrous cat could more than likely shift into a mute girl and then infiltrate them all. But that was wrong. The scent was similar to that of Caspian and his dragon.

With a small puff of smoke, Asuni stood up and did one last scan to see why this bothered her so much. Yet nothing appeared threatening.

While that commenced, Chase simply stared at David as he approached with another hatchling. Greetings Rider David. I did not wish to bother anyone so I only went to the first person I thought could answer my questions. Good morrow, fair dragon. He dipped his head in acknowledgment of Sephora.

[David Lightningsword]

Being called Rider still filled David with a mixture of feelings. Joy, honor, even a little fear at what was to come. However it appeared they knew who he was, well of course they would, if any of them had fought, or had parents who fought in the war, they would hear the tails of Lightningsword. The only thing that surprised him was they knew his first name. He bowed his head to each of them. "Greetings Caspian, as some of you well know, I am David Lightningsword." He then turned to the dragon and twisted his hand in the elven sign of fealty "Greeting Dragon, it is mine Honor to meet you." He then smiled as he felt his young dragons mind brush his, the emotion of curiosity regarding the older dragon "Oh go on then" He rolled his eyes as the Dragon lept down and approached the older dragon, mewing as he took a pose as if to oppose the older dragon, obviously playing.

He laughed before he turned his attention to the other riders "I may have not been a rider long, but I have been studying magic for many years, and Have some general knowledge of Riders. Mine Grandfather was one."

[Quetzal]

To Farria's delight, another dragon joined the group. She liked dragons. Spending so much time around them may have got her used to them, but she still loved to be around magnificent creatures such as those. They made her feel safe, and they always seemed to know things she didn't. Learning from the wise was always good. She was puzzled by Asuni's reaction to her, frowning slightly. Why would a dragon be wary of her? She was seven, all skin and bone, and unarmed. Perhaps the dragon sensed the magic in her, but one of the reasons she didn't speak was so she never cast spells. The only magic she did use was the stuff she had no control over, the one that made her able to blend into the background and hide so well she could go unnoticed in plain sight. Turning into a snow leopard required no words, but that too she refused to do since she had very little control over herself in that form.

Zeus jumped playfully at Sephora, and Farria felt a familiar mind touch hers. "I want to meet them too," Sheratan sad. Before she could object - a pointless endeavour given the cat's current frustration with her - a white shape moved on the edge of her vision, bounding towards them from wherever she had hidden several hundred yards away. The snow leopard decisively avoided getting too close to her human, prowling around the group. "You may call me Sheratan. The child is Farria," she said to the minds of any who let her speak.