forum A One on One

Started December 13, 2022 by @WIngs-of-Silver

tune

@Toothless_plays_fetch_with_shuichi

So, how do we start this off? Would you like to go first?

I suck at starting so if you like you can have the honors

Okay, that is fine. Just give me a while.

Oki

Verneti sat atop Islinger, her dragon, the wind blowing her crimson hair back out of her face, the sunlight making her dragon's white and red scales glitter.

Her wine red eyes were focused on the horizon. She'd been taught not to make eye contact with the other students, or her teachers.

She was feared and hated. She was a Shade, possessed by spirits, though the spirits were determined to be benevolent. As such, she had been allowed to exist.

It was a complete accident that she had bonded with a dragon, however. She had been walking down a street, face covered, when she ran into an elf carrying a dragon egg.

She'd made contact with the egg, and it had hatched.

She had been immediately swept away to the home of the dragon riders, where Eragon had examined her.

She'd been taught, albeit grudgingly, the principles of being a Rider, and the more advanced principles of magic, since she was already proficient with it.

Presently, she glances over at the Rider beside her, then glances away.

They'd been the only one willing to go to Du Weldenvarden with her to have a sword forged. She didn't understand why.

"Fear not, little one. It will be alright." her dragon's voice tells her, deep and resonant. She'd picked his name because of his coloring.

"I know, but I cannot help but be afraid of what shall happen on this trip. After all, even if the other Rider volunteered to go with me, they must hate me." she replies gently.

She glances back over at the other Rider, her gaze lingering.

Naru took a deep breath, her body lean and slender. She was a young elf, but not usual in the slightest. She molded her face based on humans and scales of her dragon.
Her silvery hair flowed in the evening wind as her dragon gave a gentle roar.
Calalunguntë, her dragon, a pearly white dragon. His eyes were a daring blue. they are staring. He spoke in a deep voice

Verneti's body was obviously slender - slimmer than even the elves figures - and her fingers were tipped with talons.

She realizes she'd been staring and hurries to correct her mistake.

"Eka eddyr sorry, Naru-elda. Eka achí néiat mulabra eom kópa." she murmurs, keeping her voice neutral and monotone as a sign of respect.

“You are fine, please, feel free to speak in a native tongue. Eragon taught it to us for a reason.” she said and bowed her head respectively

"Eragon said eom thorta unin thornessa language. Eka weohnata thorta unin thornessa language until eragon says néiat eom." Verneti shakes her head vehemently.

"Un why weohnataí ono want eom gear hvat eka hávr eom say? pömnuria words eru laust worth. . ." she adds softly.

She looks down as she says those last words.

Naru chuckled softly “Eka care because ono eru frëma thön hvat people think ono eru. Un because everyone's words hávr meaning eom edtha. Even yours, sunflower. ”

"Eka eddyr nobody. Eka hávr né nam. Pömnuria words mulabra nothing." Verneti says softly, words monotone.

It was clear she believed all of what she said. Nobody could lie in the ancient language after all.

After that, she remains silent, not looking at Naru again.

“Thae eka weohnata prove ono wrong“ she said, feeling her dragon snort and a few jets of smoke float out of his nostrils.
In seconds Naru had taken off, diving for the ground it seemed.

Verneti stays silent. She'd spoken out of turn enough, and was not about to get herself into more trouble.

"It's not your fault you're a Shade." Islinger growls.

"Yes, but a Shade is a Shade. We are dangerous, especially me, since I bonded with you. My power is close to what Galbatorix's was when he died, and that's as a basis. What would happen if I lost control?" she murmurs, shaking her head slightly. "My worth will be determined in how well I can keep my mouth shut and how obedient I am. After all, they will never send me on a mission like they will with the others. I will live on Eragon's island forever."

Islinger didn't have a reply to that.

Verneti spurs him on, after Naru.

Naru felt her dragon barely touch the ground before pounding his heavy wings, he launched off the ground and into the sky.
She started heading toward the edge of the hidden city.

Islinger lands just behind Naru's dragon, and stays on the ground.

"Wait here, friend. I shall make my way to the city by myself." Verneti murmurs, stroking Islinger's snout before breaking into a dead sprint, quickly catching up and keeping pace with Naru and her dragon.

Naru sighed she will never strengthen her bond with her dragon. naru said to her companion.

Verneti continues sprinting, not tiring, since she was a Shade, after all.

She projects her voice back to Islinger.

"Alright, time to see how fast you can really go. Try to beat me in a race." she smiles.

Islinger's answering roar shakes the forest, as does the sounds of wings flapping at a furious pace as the red and white dragon overtakes Naru and her dragon.

Verneti laughs, easily outdistancing her friend once more.

"Too slow." she taunts, now running backwards.

Naru laughed softly, watching the two play.
“*come on buddy! Let's show them what real speed is,” she said and narrowed flat to her dragon's back.

(I know, it is a bit of a difficult task. There will be a few moments where Verneti will just remain silent, and I will have you further the plot there, other times I shall have Verneti solve a problem or say something.)

Verneti notes Naru's increase in speed and pauses, then slows down, allowing her to race ahead. There's no way she could defeat a Rider Shade in any aspect otherwise. But she lets Islinger stay ahead.

“ oh don't slow down now!” she said after dropping down a bit. Naru was always one for a challenge and so was Calalunguntë

Verneti nods, complying with the order, speeding up once more.

She overtakes Naru once more, leaving her well behind.

She reaches the city well before Naru and Calalunguntë, who arrive about half an hour after she and Islinger do.

Naru was just as tired as her dragon, dismounting on the outskirts of town and walking in “ see? Not so bad of a runner, that gives you worth.”

Verneti shakes her head slightly, but otherwise does not do anything. She walks over to Islinger and starts tending to him once more.

Eventually, she says something.

"Eka hávr né worth, because allr eka eddyr worth er thornessa skulblaka." she says softly before disappearing to her tree room.