Two of a Kind

"How the hell am I supposed to just stand here, and wait while my bro is over three days late returning!" I mutter as I walk around my uncle's house.....err......barn, I guess....but who's keeping tally! I continue to pace until I hear the familiar bickering of my cousin, Roran, and my bro, Eragon. I run to the kitchen, and practically jump on my bro's back.

"YOU'RE BACK!!" I yell, and feel him chuckle. Our uncle walks into the room at that moment, and after seeing the three of us, he points to three chairs. We all instantly sit down.

"What is it, uncle?" My bro asks. He looks at our uncle with a innocent glint in his eyes.

"The three of you need to start acting like the adults you're soon going to be. Especially you, Sheryl! You are already a full grown woman!" He shakes his head, and walks towards the door. As soon as he's out of the room, we all burst out laughing.

"So, tell me, Eragon. Did you manage to get us any food out there?" Roran asks, and both of us watch my bro expectantly. He takes a wrapped package out of his bag. I examine it until the smell hits me. I laugh, earning me a look from both of them.

"Uncle's going to KILL you, bro!" I yell, grinning.

"Where did you get that from, anyway?" Roran asks. We look at Eragon, waiting for an excuse. I watch as my bro looks at the ground, blushing.

"K.......Katrina gave it to me." He mutters. I glare at him.

'I can't BELIEVE he excepted food from that......that......WITCH!!!' I growl mentally. Eragon looks at me as though he could sense the hostility from me. "Something wrong, bro?" I ask, looking at him with a grin. He shakes his head.

"No, nothing. So, did you find something to occupy yourself with while I was gone, Sher?" He asks, looking back at me, then turns to look at Roran as Roran slowly backs towards the door. I grin even bigger at the look on his face.

"As a matter-of-fact, yes, I have! I met a guy in the village and spend every spare moment I can with him." Eragon looks at Roran, and he stops his hasty retreat long enough to nod. Eragon's mouth drops.

"Do you LIKE him?" He asks. I grin evilly, and turn to walk out of the house. "Hey!! Sher!! TELL ME!!!" He yells, running out the door after me. He watches as I jump onto the back of one of uncle's horses, and ride towards the village.

"You know, cuz, your sister's kind of strange compared to the rest of the family..." Roran says as he comes up behind Eragon.

"Yeah, I noticed that a few years ago." Eragon responds, watching the direction I had disappeared towards. "So, who's this guy she's been seeing?" When Roran doesn't answer, Eragon turns to look at him.

"Sorry, cuz, but you're going to have to get her to tell you." Eragon glares at Roran, and Roran shakes his head. "No. We both know that she would KILL me if she found out that I told you."

"She won't find out! I swear I won't tell her." Roran shakes his head. "Fine. I'll find out on my own!" Eragon mutters as he grabs one of the other horses.

Once he had gotten to Carvahall, he dismounts the horse, and walks towards the center of the village. Once there, he sees me with a guy. Eragon starts walking towards us until he sees that we're fighting.

"Good! Now, you must learn how to harness all that energy you have, and turn it into a useable weapon that you can use to fight with!" The stranger says as he knocks me to the ground. He puts the blade of his swords to my neck. Eragon was just about to intervene when the stranger moves the blade on my neck. He looks at me, and smiles.

"How do I DO that?" I ask as he takes the blade off of my neck, and I jump to my feet. He grins, and walks towards me.

"You have to let go of all of your connections to the earth. Then you will truly BE ready." He says, as he snakes his arms around my waist. I close my eyes, and try to concentrate on what I was instructed to do. After only a few moments, my eyes fly open when I hear a very angry voice.

"Okay, I think that's about enough of that!" I look around Erayn's shoulder, only to see a very pissed off Eragon.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?!" I yell, wiggling out of Erayn's embrace. I walk towards Eragon, and as soon as I was within reaching distance, his arm shoots out, and grabs my wrist.

"We're leaving! NOW!!!" He says, and I turn a apologetic look to Erayn, who merely smiles. Eragon grabs the two horses lead ropes, and drags both me and them away. Once we hit the edge of the village, I pull my wrist from him, and glare at him.

"What the hell's your problem, bro?" I yell. He turns to look at me.

"What the hell were you DOING?!!" He yells back. I take a step towards him.

"Spending time with my fiancée!" I say, holding up my left hand so the ring on it glitters in the sun.

"F......fiancée?" He stutters. I shake my head.

"Yes, Eragon, fiancée! I got engaged the night that you left." I grab my horse, and lead her towards the farm. He catches up to me, and steps in front of me.

"When were you planning on telling me?" He asks.

"I don't know..." Eragon watches as a tear falls down my face.

"You don't WANT to marry him." He says in a matter-of-fact tone. I look at him with a sad smile.

"What I want doesn't matter. It's what uncle NEEDS." Eragon's mouth drops open.

"You're doing this for......MONEY!!!" He shouts, outraged.

"I don't have much of a choice! I'm the last female in the family!" I yell, and after getting on my horse, I run away.

"What the hell have I done!?" Eragon jumps onto his horse, and takes off running.

Over the next four or five months, I haven't really seen my bro. One night, while I was spending time with Erayn in the village, we see some strangers in cloaks walking around the village. They notice us, and come at us.

"Why is it that the one time I need to use my sword, is the one time that I CAN'T!! This is stupid!" I mutter as I take a fighting stance.

Erayn runs at the strangers, and they fight for a while. I watch as Erayn falls to the ground, wounded. When I go to run to him, I feel something go around my waist. I look up to see one of the strangers holding me by the waist.

"We hasss you now, preciousss. Don't worry about him. He'ssss dead." Tears fall from my eyes, and I try wiggling to escape. Before I knew what was going on, my sight goes black.

I wake up, and rub the back of my head. "W......where am I?" I question no one in particular. My eyes shoot open when I hear a ominous voice answer me.

"Why, my dear, you're in Gil'ead." My eyes travel to where the voice was coming from, and I see a man with pale skin, red eyes, and blood red hair.

"Gil'ead......wasn't I just in Carvahall?" I question. Without any warning, his hand comes across my face, leaving it bruised and pulsing. I stare at him defiantly, without a single tear in my eye. For some reason, ever since I turned 14 I have been unable to cry. My uncle had the doctors look at me, and they say it was my choice, that I chose not to cry, so I couldn't. They say I have to choose to cry to be able to again. So, no crying.

"You aren't to ask any questions, understand?" He growls. I stare at him with the defiant look in my eyes. "Tell me, dear, what exactly is your connection to Eragon?" He asks.

"Like I would ever tell you!" I growl, and as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I feel something invisible wrap around me. I yelp in pain.

"You sure about that?" He asks, and I look up at him, glaring.

"You will NEVER get me to tell you ANYTHING about it!" I say through gritted teeth. He merely smiles.

"Oh, but I think you eventually will, my dear. After all, there's only so long that someone can take being tortured before they give in. I have all the time in the world to wait, my dear." He walks out of the cell, saying, "Until next time, my dear."

Over the next few weeks/months, I get tortured a few times a hour/day. I'm not really sure which. I have no way of knowing how long it's been. I got moved to a cell without any windows on my second day here. I had squeezed through the bars during the guard's change of shift. Of course Durza had caught me as soon as I was out of the room, but I was free for a few seconds. This had inspired more escape attempts. All ending the same way...me locked back up. I was sitting in my cell waiting for the next time that Durza would come to continue his torture, when I overheard the guards talking about how they had a dragon rider locked up in the underground.

'A rider?! I have to get them out of here! This is no place for a rider.' I mentally slur. I stand up, and walk towards the cell door. I look through the bars, and one of the guards notices me.

"What do you need, Deanna?" The guard asks me, looking at me hesitantly. Apparently he had heard of my latest escape attempt, in which I had squeezed through the bars, and knocked several of the guards that were on duty to watch me unconscious. It's amazing how in one's darkest hour, abilities seem to surface. As my mental shielding had been reduced to ribbons over and over again, I began to find myself changing. I soon realized that I could wield magic. I had become a spell caster due to continual mental exposure. I point towards the darkness farther down the corridor.

"I'm not feeling too good." I lie.

"Very well, but no funny business! Got it?" The guard says, yep, he had definitely heard. Not that I would be able to muster a lot of magic in my current condition. I nod, and watch as he opens the door. He grabs a hold of my wrist, and drags me off in the direction that I could only hope that the dragon rider was in. We walk down the corridor, until I see a boy sitting in a cell, drawing on the ground. He looks up, and freezes.

"What's the problem?! I thought I told you no funny business." The guard says, only to be knocked backwards as my palm collides with his chin. I run to the cell, and the door flies open before I even get to it. He immediately moves away from me when I enter the cell.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He asks, shrinking farther away.

'E....Eragon?! What is he doing here? Why doesn't he recognize me! I mean, I know my hair is longer, but I still look the same....don't I?' I mentally yell. "What? Has it been so long that you don't even recognize your own twin sister?" I ask, mockingly, and watch as his eyes lighten up.

"Sher? But....how? We all thought you were d-" He begins, only to be cut off. I grab his wrist, and pull him towards the door of the cell.

"DEAD!! HA!! Death would be a blessing in this place! If you die, you're one of the LUCKY ones!" I shake my head, and flinch when I feel arms wrap around me. I open my eyes, and take a deep breath when I see Eragon.

"What did they DO to you?" He asks as he feels me flinch. I sigh, and he takes a step back to look at me. "Well?"

"You don't want to know." I suddenly remember my original reason for escaping this time. "I came here to help a rider escape...." Something suddenly clicks. "What are YOU doing here?" I ask, and go completely still when a thought strikes itself into my head. "Did Durza," I cringe. "Make this up?" I look up to see Eragon with a sad look on his face.

"Who is Durza?" He asks as I sense his emotions go from sadness, to confusion, to anger when I go completely immobile.

"Okay, obviously HE didn't send you if you don't even know who HE is...." I put a finger on my chin as I try to think of other reason's that he could be here. "But if that's not it....then why ARE you here?" He smiles sadly.

"Because, I AM the rider, Sher." I freeze.

"You can't use that name around here! And what do you mean, you're the dragon rider!" I mutter so fast that it takes him a minute to grasp what I had said. I freeze when I hear familiar laughing. I spin around to see none other than......