The Grey Chronicles (Eragon fanfic) Book 1: Emergence

Chapter 2: Teirm and Meeting Angela

"Ooohhh..."

The girl perked herself up dizzily on the sand, confused until the last night's memories came back to her in full force.

Not that she particularly wanted to keep playing dead until she got what she wanted, but Jesse knew that conserving whatever strength she had was paramount until someone else came along. At least I didn't drown, the girl thought with a shudder, pushing her black hair aside as she sat up.

Looking around was not particularly promising: not far inland rose a mountain range that covered most of the coastline, seemingly shielding the entire side of a continent. The breeze carried the faint scent of fresh water, but Lord knew how far it was from her spot, distances she could not walk in a day considering her condition. Thankfully, she had managed to keep her backpack throughout the night, and it might carry enough drinkable water for her to reach the inlet of a river if she was lucky. She fingered the charm around her neck (she thanked God for not losing it) then tested her limbs for anything wrong. There was nothing.

That done, the girl coasted her gray eyes all over the shoreline near her, looking for the tell-tale spouts that clams made when sifting through the sand to eat. Finding one, she clambered to her feet, stumbling forward and shaking her head to be rid of vertigo as she knelt down again and started to dig. She hooked her slender fingers expertly around the mussel to keep the slippery thing from going, then put it in her pocket to look for some more.

As night fell, Jesse had made a driftwood fire and was roasting the mussels on a stick after about half an hour of prying out the soft meat. Food had not tasted so good to her before, and the silence was comforting for once at the sight of so many stars. The girl didn't bother looking for constellations; just as a retired seaman knew when a storm was going to end, Jesse knew in her bones that she wasn't anywhere familiar to her on a map. Instead, the young sailor curled up in a blanket she had save, as close to the fire as she dared. Then, she drifted off to sleep.

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The next morning brought new strength to her limbs, and a more optimistic attitude to go with it. Intinctively, Jesse erased all signs of the camp as she shouldered her pack and went off in the direction of the freshwater. Perhaps the inlet was not all water and she wouldn't have to swim.

Much of the day was spent in walking on the sand in monotony, though she took regular breaks so as not to tire herself out. Occasionally, the girl would hunt for more mussels, but mostly subsisted on the granola bars she had in her pack. They would give her energy, but little else. In any case, she was constantly hungry since she woke up.

Jesse managed to reach the inlet before the sun had set, and what was behind the towering mountains astounded her.

The girl could see forest ahead and above her, with bigger trees than she had seen in her life. The inlet was big enough for a decent-sized ship, but left enough land so that she could walk upstream without having to worry about the tides. Once more, she spent the night near the ocean, then immediately set off before the sun rose.

It took her days to reach the nearest city, and she almost wished she didn't. The place was humungous, reminding her somewhat of Minas Tirith that she saw in the LOTR movies. Thankfully her hoodie was much the same dull color as the cloak of the traveler beside her, but Jesse knew she had to get something that resembled their clothes quickly. She did not want to attract attention here.

Walking briskly through the street in her combat boots, she couldn't help but pause and pet every cat that came her way. Like they always did, the felines meowed with happiness when they found a human willing to indulge with them. Jesse knew that she probably looked weird for being surrounded by a whole bunch of alley cats, but she just didn't care.

Suddenly, the cats scattered from her, taking cover in every inch of shelter. Feeling someone behind her, the young sailor turned around slowly, meeting the eyes of the two soldiers grinning animalistically once they realized she was a girl.

She was screwed. Red hot hell, was her last thought before she started running.