A Hunter's Return

[dannylam4]

Forest descended through the clouds, drenching them in vapor. With every quick flap of the wing, their speed and flight dried them quickly. Pike barely held onto his companion, staring at nothing in particular. Their flight was quiet, their travel long. Returning from a mission, Pike needed to give the Varden the report.

We're getting close, Forest stated. He descended, though the air seemed to whip around Pike like nothing. He barely flinched at the sudden change in speed.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it..." Pike noted.

Yes, it will be good to be back. Pike nodded in agreement, watching the city of Aberon appear over the horizon. Their mission had been long, and though he learned a lot, he had lost too much.

"We must find who betrayed us, Forest," Pike said, gripping to one of Forest's spikes hard. "Their sacrifice won't be for nothing..."

We will, Pike. With a powerful flap, Forest shot towards Aberon with haste. After another few moments of silence, they arrived at their destination.

That leader of yours should really make more room for a large dragon... Forest noted, flying up and over Aberon. Pike let off a slight laugh, the first in some time.

"I'll see you on the ground," Pike said, hopping off Forest and falling through the sky. "If you ever find a spot to fit your big butt, that is."

I hope you break your legs on your fall, Forest roared through the air. Falling through the sky, Pike grabbed at the air like string, pulling at it to slow him down. He landed on the floor gently, kicking up dust as he touched the ground.

[Wingheart]

Elva ran through the forest, branches tearing at her hair and dress, feet cut and bleeding from the rough underbrush. There were some premonitions that were important enough that there was no time to waste looking for her shoes, much less change into something more suitable. A Rider in danger was one of them, especially when said Rider was a considerable distance from the Varden camp. At least it's not raining, she thought as she yanked her skirts free from a bush. She almost wished there'd been enough time to grab a sword off one of the many soldiers so that she could pass through the dense forest with better speed, but that would have required explaining herself. And there simply wasn't time for that.

She was getting close to the fatal hour and there was still no sign of a Rider or a dragon. Elva was starting to get uncharacteristically frustrated; it wasn't like you could just stuff a fully-grown dragon into a backpack. And it wasn't like she could scry them either; there was nothing to use as a medium, there wasn't time, and to her knowledge she had never seen this particular Rider before.

The violet-eyed girl stared up at the sky as if she was hoping that something useful to her predicament would fall out of it, and through a clear patch in the canopy was able to see what looked suspiciously like a dragon flying away. I have a few minutes at the most! Elva thought, eyes widening in panic. Without any care for her dress or greenery in the area, she broke into a full sprint, holding the little buckler in front of her to absorb the worst of the backlash from low branches.

Unexpectedly, the girl stumbled into a clearing, almost lost her balance, and half-collapsed on the tree for support. In front of her was a person, presumably the Rider. The clearing itself seemed innocent enough, leaves and dirt masterfully disguising the trap. If Elva hadn't known it was there, she might have run into it herself. Breathing heavily (it had been a heavy sprint for such a small child), she raised one hand to brush her dark bangs away from her forehead so that Saphira's star-shaped mark was visible. "Don't," Gasp. "Move," Wheeze. "Trap." Cough.

[dannylam4]

Landing gently on the ground, he examined his clothes quickly. Brushing off the dust he built up, his eyes moved towards the area around him. Light reflected in unusual positions, unless the plants around him had been wet, there was something unusual about the sparkle around him. A rustle of the bushes and trees around him, he removed the large spear strapped to his back.

"Don't... move... trap..." a young child barely managed to say as she entered the area.

"A trap set on the hunter?" Pike said, looking around him. "How ironic..."

Swinging his spear across the ground, he sliced some near-invisible wire to shreds, setting off the trap. His arms swept the area quickly, spear moving like a blur. A sound of crackling rang through the air, shards of metallic arrows landing on the ground, covered in ice. "Moisture around the arrows, frozen deeply to the very, metaphorical, bone," Pike said, stepping on one of the arrow pieces. "You must be Elva. You were just the person I was looking for."

[Wingheart]

Though she hadn't quite caught her breath, Elva couldn't help but jump back just to make sure that stray arrows didn't hit her. She hadn't seen that one coming, and the girl couldn't help but wonder who was setting so many traps. This seems too clumsy to be the Empire's style, unless they've hired someone different from the typical assassin. She smiled bitterly, nodding at Pike's mention of her name. "Yes, I am Elva...and there is a spike pit right in front of you. If you walk around that white rock," here she raised a pale hand to point, "you can avoid it." Neither trap would have been enough to kill a Rider, but if he had been hit with both, it could have been quite bad for Pike, not to mention Elva. That sort of pain would be the kind that left the girl half-collapsed and wishing she could just fall unconscious so that the nauseous feeling would go away.

Elva watched Pike with some degree of curiousity. He seemed so nonchalant about the trap, while most soldiers from the Varden would have been hysterical and barely able to follow her directions. But then again, she'd never seen a Rider in a battle situation before, being forbidden from going anywhere remotely dangerous for obvious reasons. It was only starting to hit Elva that she was in the forest, far away from Greta and Angela, and that she had been running by herself for quite a while. It wasn't quite a feeling of freedom, but it was certainly a novel experience for the girl who had been practically locked up for most of her life.

"You said you were looking for me," Elva said pointedly once Pike was clear of the trap. "Do you wish to discuss it now or wait until we return to the Varden?"

[dannylam4]

"I prefer we discuss matters away from prying eyes and ears," Pike said, moving his staff across the floor. "But before such a thing, if such a trap eludes a hunter, any human cub may fall for such a danger."

Finding an odd color of dirt and grass, Pike slowly traced the circle. It wasn't near perfect, meaning the trap not created by magic but of human hands. "And as such, we remove such a thing..." Slamming his spear into the ground, the earth collapsed into the hole, creating a fall in the ground but filled the pit enough. Dusting off his hands, he removed the spear and looked back at Elva. "As for you, young miss, we have a wolf in sheep's clothing. Our mission, including myself, an elf, and a rider, was harvested too early in season and spoiled. I, alone, have returned."

[Wingheart]

Elva was quite pleased that Pike rendered the trap harmless, as she had no desire for another wild dash through the forest. However, it only showed on her face as a rather bitter smile, but then again, that was all anyone was ever going to get from the black-haired girl. Her entire worldview had been twisted for as long as she could remember- which was admittedly not very long- and since she was just a child, it was too much to expect her to bear the burden she did and resemble a normal child of her age in any way, shape, or fashion.

"I'll take you back to the Varden, then. It sounds like you've had a very difficult journey." She hoped that would help to comfort Pike, and turned back the way she'd came. Even if shed had nothing with which to clear a path, a path had been cleared nevertheless, and anybody skilled in tracking would have seen that someone went through there in a hurry. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Elva registered that she should probably be ashamed for not being more stealthy because there was no way Pike was not going to notice. But seriously, at the time it had been a decision between helping a Rider and being sneaky, and since there was a good distance between the edge of the forest and the Varden's camp, it wasn't like she'd led anyone right to their door. If she had, the violet-eyed girl would definately be feeling it right now. "So," she said after a time, "what happened?"

[dannylam4]

"We had a mission," Pike said, letting his spear drag across the ground as they moved through the forest. He could care less who would know he had been there. Let them come, he could use the stress release. "Jex, his dragon, and the elf Niniel. It was top secret... not even Eragon knew."

Swinging his staff, he cut some vines to shreds and let them drop out of his way. "Someone betrayed us. I don't know who, but someone gave away our plans..." His hands gripped the spear hard, knuckles turning white. "Forest and I, we were the only to make it out alive on both sides..." Holding up his spear, he took a closer look at it, a cool icy mist flowing off it. "Though the mission was a success, the price was costly. Power for life... I suppose that's the way life is, isn't it..."

[Arkantos]

Verin winced as her new armor made a metallic noise in the all too-quiet forest. The presence of more than one dragon usually did that. It had been several weeks since the debacle with Arkantos and Rhaxta -she still made a face at the mention of the half-elf's name-, and Caranthor had grown exponentially. Verin was finding it hard to keep him under wraps most of the time. This close to the Surdan border, she had to keep dodging patrols of both factions that saw a dragon first and asked questions after shooting it down with a hail of arrows.

However, the fact that another, larger dragon, had landed, virtually unchallenged, had piqued her interest far too much not to avoid. She approached them from the side, careful to try and avoid any unnecessary noise. If the Rider and dragon were friendly, she needn't fear them. If they weren't...then she'd better hope they at least kept her alive for Caranthor's sake.

Caranthor himself was gliding low and slow over the treetops, nimbly weaving in and out of them in order to show off his agility to Verin. He hadn't yet said anything, which concerned the Seer to no end, but he showed remarkable understanding of the human mind, memorizing concepts and objects that he assumed other dragons merely ignored. He smelled the fierce, heavy scent of the dragon, as well as two other scents, obviously human, that he couldn't quite identify yet. Taking a quick mental snapshot of them, he sent the image to Verin, who realized that she was just out of sight of them.

Caranthor, get out of there, now! That dragon's too big for you to handle, and it can probably breathe fire! Cute Rider, though...[/color], Verin commanded mentally, tying her hair up with flows of air. Since she'd started to really rough it, she'd given up on doing her hair in elaborate hairstyles. They just took too much time. Caranthor snorted quietly with disdain at her almost instant infatuation with male magic users. But he still flew away quickly, making sure to land as softly as he could in the brush. Coming into sight of the Rider and the other person with him, Verin drew her rapier and held it warily in front of her.

"Hold it right there! Are you with the Varden or the Empire? D-don't come any closer now, I-I'm a Rider, and a Seer, besides. I can see any attack you might t-try, so don't dare a-attempt anything.", Verin stammered as she slowly circled them.

[dannylam4]

Company approaches, noted Forest from above. A female, rider, approaching from the Varden's current station.

"A rider?" Pike both thought and spoke at the same time. "A new recruit? Probably the council's doing, sending a hatchling to us for training." Giving his spear a quick spin, he swung it behind him where it stayed against his back without rope or holster. As the soldier approached, the rustling of leaves and the soft steps of grass noted Pike of where she was approaching from. Having a hunter's eyes and ears certainly had its benefits.

"Hold it right there! Are you with the Varden or the Empire? D-don't come any closer now, I-I'm a Rider, and a Seer, besides. I can see any attack you might t-try, so don't dare a-attempt anything."

She certainly has a way with words, Forest spoke, flying above them, his shadow eclipsing the small breaks of sunlight that escaped the trees around them. Ask her how many fingers I'm holding.

You don't have any fingers, Pike responded, looking up into the sky. So the answer would be none.

Maybe I'll just take yours then. Letting off a huff of smoke, Forest flapped his wing hard, sending a deep gust through the trees, making sure his presence was known.

Adjusting the wind around him, the gust barely made his hair move. Pike took a step forward, looking at the girl and then past her. "I'm of a neutral status and I'm not bound such standards of 'sides.' Of course, if you were truly a seer, you'd know that, wouldn't you?" Pike asked, looking back at her with a slight smile. "I'm here to give word to the council immediately, so step aside, hatchling. And with Elva accompanying me, I can assure you, I mean no harm to the Varden save one in particular, when I find out who he or she is that is."

[Wingheart]

Elva really wanted to warn Pike that she probably wasn't the best person to have around if he was going to attempt revenge, because then she'd be forced to stop him, but once again, the curse prevented her from doing so. She'd just have to hope that Angela or Greta or someone would sort it all out once they got back, because if she told him, it would cause him pain. Even I've never heard of anyone he mentioned, and I'm around all of the important people most of the time. It must have been quite the secret if it was so important that they'd rather risk an assassin than let me hear what was going on.

No immediate attack had been launched, which was probably why Elva didn't see Verin coming. Even if she isn't, she should try to project more confidence. If there's one thing I've learned from being around all of these politicians, it's that lying is an art that can either kill you or save your life, so it's best to become proficient as soon as possible. Her eerie violet eyes followed Verin and her right arm with the buckler was drawn across her chest. She spoke after Pike, in an attempt to soften his words, or at least not soubnd so confrontational. "I can assure you, Rider, if anyone is to get hurt it will be me before either of you."

[Arkantos]

Verin looked at the girl with the Rider in wonder, and she eagerly sheathed her blade. Smiling at them, she took a step forward and began to scream as her body convulsed. She knew what was going to happen. A waking vision. One of the most deadly things a Seer could fortell was taking her, and strongly.

Gulls and other seabirds wheeled overhead as the sun shone on the placid little bay, the water still and glass-like. A fleet of ships stood at a hastily constructed quay of massive stone blocks, but it was the crowd of people on the quay that interested Verin. Suddenly her vision sharpened, and she saw that veritable whos who of high-ranking Varden soldiers stood there. She saw elves, half-elves, magicians, Riders with their dragons hovering overhead. At the tiller of the flagship she saw Arkantos, black cloak staying unnaturally still despite the brisk breeze, sound a gong with a fist of air. As if on cue, the entire fleet's sails dropped and they set sail to the west, and the setting sun, dragons and their Riders soaring along above them, magicians and Riders both casting spells of wind to aid their speed. A hand, gloved in a rich chocolate brown leather, outstretched itself into Verin's field of vision. Her gaze staggered and fell several feet, to reveal her own reflection in the water. She had collapsed onto her hands and knees. Next to her, Caranthor's large head gently nuzzled her back up, and she weakly climbed into the saddle, still feeling a sense of fuzzy sadness and grief. But instead of going east, as she thought she would, Caranthor turned to the west, and raced over the water, chasing after the ships for some reason she could not fathom, for some reason that burned with urgency....[/i]

Verin left the vision, as usual, on the ground, but her vision swam red. Placing a hand over them as she stood, wobbling on her knees, she saw why. Her eyes were bleeding.

Looking drunkenly at both the girl and the Rider, she smiled, embarrassed, and said in a small, meek voice, "I think I'm going to need healing for this one. Would either of you mind?" Caranthor arrived soon after, landing hurriedly and rushing to his Rider's side, helping her stand by leaning her weight on his long sinuous neck. He looked at the much larger dragon with an expression of urgency and desperation, even on the mental frequencies.