FSE

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Saphira slowly stretched as she woke from one of the best sleeps she could remember, Fírnen was clutched close to her chest and she smiled as she pulled him closer. The scent of their activities was strong in the air and she felt content to just stay there. The dawn light was starting to show through the entrance of the cave and she could start to hear some of the birds sing.

She curled her neck and rested the top of her head against his throat, enjoying the sound of his deep breathing. She could feel the presence of Eragon's mind touch hers. She sighed and after making sure he patiently waited he let him into her thoughts.

"Good morning Bright scales" he said, his tone conveying a deep sense of apology for their previous encounter.

"Good morning little one" She said.

"Saphira, I wanted to apologies again for my behavior last yesterday."

She remained silent, She could tell that he was indeed sorry but needed to know he was sincere.

"What I did was wrong, I should have trusted you and when you don't want to show me something, you know best and I shouldn't probe."

Saphira waited for him to finish. "Apology accepted. I too took things a bit too far, I knew you wouldn't appreciate tasting him but I was angry."

"And very much justified." Eragon said. They stayed together in silence for a while. "It didn't taste as bad as I thought it wound."

"I was surprised too! Kind of salty but also not, kind of like leather" she said jokingly.

"I don't think I would indulge in it myself, but I'm glad you liked it." he chuckled. "Its good to feel you happy Saphira. I cant remember the last time I've felt you this content."

Saphira smiled holding Fírnen tightly. "I think I could stay here forever"

Eragon paused, his mind turning serious. "Saphira... about that. Have you told him the plan?"

Saphira's stomach dropped. "No"

"Saphira! We have to do this! We cant have the next generation grow up in-"

"I KNOW!" She cried. "I know, Believe me, I know." her whole body trembling "Just for a few days I forgot about our responsibilities, and it was glorious."

Eragon tried to comfort her troubled mind as much as he could through their link. "Saphira, I have already told Arya and I plan on telling the rest of the elves during the festival."

"I will tell him by then" she promised, sniffing away a tear.

"Its also a custom to give gifts to loved ones at the festival, I can help you if you want"

"Thank-you Eragon"

His presence drifted away from her and she lifted her head. Looking down at Fírnen's sweet form curled up against her. She stared at him and tried to find the words to tell him. As he stirred he rolled onto his back, he smacked his lips a few times which she had known is usually the sign that he is awake.

"Fírnen, I need to tell you something"

He gave a soft murr of acknowledgement

"I need to go, and.... and I'm not..."

He untangled himself from her "Sorry, I didn't know I was holding you so tight. If your going, could you grab a fishy? I'm a bit hungry after last night"

Smiling, she had never heard of a dragon calling it a "fishy". "That's not what I..... Ok, one Fishy coming right up"

She got up and stretched, as she walked to the cave entrance she could smell the fresh air which calmed her. She stretched her wings and launched into the air, Her damaged wing strained but held ok as she glided down to the river. It didn't take her long to catch a few fish, with her wing behaving she could keep her balance and dive her jaws under the water to snatch a few fish. She sighed as she looked at the riverbank where Fírnen and her had spent the last few days, she tried to commit the place to memory, the tress, the sounds of the forest and the smells. She let out a sad whine and collected the fish into her mouth before taking off back to the cave.

Fírnen rolled onto his belly when he heard the sounds of Saphira's wings, she landed and came padding into the cave, half a dozen fish hanging from her maw. "Your wings are ok then?" he asked as she dropped half the fish off in front of him.

"Still a bit tender, but they will hold." She said as she got stuck into her fish. She took a few bites out of the fish but they didn't taste right. "Are these fish ok?"

Fírnen looked up with half a fish in his maw, "They are amazing, thank-you" he said as continued munching.

Saphira smiled at him and tried to take another bite, a wave of nausea creeping up on her. "Here, you can finish mine. I'm not sure if I'm feeling like 'fishy' this morning."

Fírnen looked at her concerned, but could tell she was starting to shut him off. "Is everything ok?"

"Its fine, Finish your fish and meet me outside, your training starts today" She said as she got up and walked to the entrance.

"Ok, I thought you weren't going to teach me" he said confused.

"Fírnen.... There will come a time where I am not hear to protect you. So I need to make sure you can protect yourself."

"Don't say that Saphira, I want to stay here in this forest with you forever."

Her heart melted and she had to steel her emotions. "Meet me in the air once you're done" she said coldly. With a flap of her wings she launched into the sky, she tried to bury her feelings towards him. She swallowed back tears and beat her wings to gain as much height as possible, the ground falling away from her as she climbed into the clouds.

Eventually she spotted Fírnen exiting their cave and taking to the sky. She angled herself to use the sun as cover and once he had enough height to be safe she cropped her wings and dove towards him. "Fírnen! defend yourself"

Fírnen looked around trying to work out where she was, only at the last second did her shadow over him give her position away, he quickly rolled to avoid being hit and she flew right past him. He could see the look on her face, all sense of calm and softness gone, She flared her wings and pitched up, sailing above him again as she prepared for her next attack. He couldn't help but admire her grace as she banked hard and started coming towards him. He flapped his wings hard trying to gain altitude but she was closing too quick, he waited until the last second and then rolled out the way again, her claws missing him by a good few feet.

"Good, Now try and attack" she said as she banked around and headed straight towards him.

"How am I meant to attack if your coming straight at me" He said as he rolled to dodge another swipe of her claws.

"Your enemy wont take turns with you Fírnen. This is not a game, You need to strike back" she yelled as she pitched upwards to gain some needed altitude. She could see that he was still flapping his wings to try and get some height on him. "Try not to stay still, move around a bit, Don't wait for me to come to you."

As she dove down on her next attack he rolled out the way but this time tucked his wings in and dove after her. "Good, Fírnen, Good, Now you are in a good position, If you close the gap you can control where I can go by being where you don't want me to go."

Fírnen furiously beat his wings trying to keep up, As he got close he could see her tail give away the direction she was about to turn and he could quickly move to intercept. "I've got you now" he joked as he tried to reach out with his claws to touch her. Looking back she could see him getting closer,

"Oh really?" She flared one wing quickly and then the other causing her to jink left then right, before he knew it she had swirled past his right wingtip upside down and then righted herself over the top of him. She smiled as she kicked herself off his shoulders, enjoying the look of amazement on his face. She beat her wings a few more times to gain some altitude while he turned around and came in for an attack. She twisted in the air to dodge his attack and as he sailed past her she gave him a tap with her hind paw on the back of his head. "You can do better" she taunted him.

She glided on a thermal while he quickly beat his wings trying to gain height, she could tell he was getting tired, although it was clear that his pride had taken a bigger hit than his body. As he came around again she noticed that his movements were slower and more fatigued, as he dove towards her she tucked her wings in and led him on a dive towards the ground. She could feel him gaining on her and she slowed down slightly, allowing him to catch up. She slowly turned left and right while diving and he stayed with her the whole time, he reached forwards with his mouth and gave her tail a nip. "Got you!" he exclaimed.

Smiling she turned back and slowly pulled out of the dive. "Well done!" she said, trying to hide her amusement. They flew through the air for a while before Saphira noticed the sun was at its highest. "You flew well Fírnen. I think with a bit more practice you will do great" She could feel his chest swell with pride. She didn't want to ruin the moment by telling him Eragon and her plans so she kept quiet, As she saw the elf city approach she knew she had to say something.

"Fírnen, There is something I wanted to tell you.... This festival... Eragon is going to announce something which might come as a bit of a shock but I need you to know that everything will be ok... ok?" She said.

"How bad is it?" he asked, a look of worry in his eyes.

"In the grand scheme of things it is a good thing, but I need you to know that its not a decision we've made lightly"

"Can you tell me what it is?"

She turned to him and could see the concern in his eyes, she knew what she was about to say would break his heart but she knew she had to do it. "Fírnen, my love. In life we all have responsibilities, like you have with Arya and I have with Eragon. I wish things could be different, I really do. But sometimes these responsibilities require sacrifices..."

"Saphira what are you saying?" he could feel her becoming cold and her words sounded rehearsed.

"I'm sorry Fírnen, I don't know how to say this." before she could continue he banked suddenly and turned away. "Hey where are you going?!"

"Arya needs me, sorry lets talk later" He said quickly before shutting her out, He didn't like the tone of the conversation and he felt a sense of guilt as he ran from his problems.

Saphira snorted in frustration and shook her head. She could see Eragon waiting in the opening of their tree house and she tilted her wings slightly to adjust her course.

She flared her wings and landed gracefully next to Eragon. He could feel her frustration and anger in side her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Did you tell him?"

"I'm not sure, I think he knows that we need to be apart but he flew away before I could tell him the details" She said sadly, she leaned into his hand and he wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her into a hug. They stayed in each others embrace for a while before pulling away, Eragon went over to the table where he had a few cakes that Saphira liked.

"I got these, to try and say sorry for yesterday." he said as he grabbed one and brought it to her.

She thanked him and sat down with the cake, using her paws she picked at it and pulled it apart, not really eating that much of it. "Eragon, Can I get you to help me with a gift?"

"Of course, What do you need me to do?"

"If I get a rock, could you carve something into it for me?"

"Just tell me the words" he said smiling at her. She turned and took the sky once more, heading to a particular clearing which she turned a boulder into slag.

---

Fírnen landed with a thud in Arya's tree house, the elf turning in her chair to see him. "Hello Fírnen, How are you doing?" a look of concern in her eyes.

"Good... I think. I don't know" he said as he flopped down on his furs. "We spent a lot of time together and she was great, I mean it was great. I really felt that I got to know the real Saphira, but then as we were flying back she said something that I don't really know what to make of"

Arya nodded and walked over to his bed, She sat down between his front paws and put an arm on one of them. "What did she say?"

"That's just it, she didn't say much. The last few days we spent so much time enjoying the freedom of the forest and I could genuinely feel her relax and open up, Then one look at the city and she starts talking about how we all have responsibilities and have to make sacrifices.... I flew away before she could continue though"

"Fírnen! You shouldn't fly away from someone when they are talking."

"I know, and I don't feel good about it either. I'll talk to her at the festival and apologies"

Arya gently ran her fingers over his paw, tracing the scales that lead to his claws. "Have you put much thought into what you will give her at the festival? maybe a poem or song?"

Fírnen jolted, he had forgotten completely. "I forgot, Also, it turns out she doesn't like poems or songs about her."

"Really? How did you find that out?"

"Violently" he chuckled.

Arya stood up and turned to face him. "Well, what are you going to get her?"

Fírnen thought for a while and then noticed the dress that Arya was wearing, it was a deep green with leaves and trees embroidered on it. "Say Arya, that dress you have, do you remember who made it?"

"I made it myself, Although I don't think Saphira is a dress kind of girl"

Fírnen chuckled at the thought. "How long would it take to make a quilt?"

"A quilt is no quick task, maybe a month or two?"

"How long would it take if you used magic?" he asked, his pleading eyes staring into her soul.

"You know that gifts should not be made with magic unless their function needs it Fírnen. The idea of using magic to speed up the process only cheapens the gift"

"Arya, please. Saphira is not one for tradition, If I had more time then we could do it with no magic. But I need this before tonight" he said, he lowered his head down to her height and gave his biggest puppy dog eyes face to her.

"Fine! you win. Lets get some supplies first" She said as he bounced on his paws with excitement. "you big hatchling"

---

Saphira returned back to the treehouse with fragments of the rock she destroyed in her rage when she first met Fírnen. As she dropped them to the floor Eragon looked at them closely, They had clearly been melted with dragon fire. "Do I want to know what happened to cause this rock to melt?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Probably not, I got angry and took out my frustrations on it. I was hoping we could put it back together with green steel."

"Green steel?" Eragon asked. he rolled the fragments over in his hands trying to put the boulder back together.

"What's the steel that they make statues out of?" she asked

"Ah, Bronze, it doesn't start green but turns green over time. I'm sure the elvish blacksmiths have some."

"I was thinking we carve the words and then pour the bronze into the letters"

"I think that would look amazing Saphira. What do you want it to say?"

Eragon and Saphira worked on the gift for much of the afternoon before needing to get ready for the festival. Saphira gave herself a quick tongue bath while Eragon made himself presentable.

---

"You know Fírnen, When you said you wanted to make a quilt, You didn't say that it would be this.... Vulgar. Are you sure she will like it?" Arya asked, she was sitting in a tree overlooking the riverbed where Fírnen and Saphira had spent their time. Levitating beside her was a quilt, a needle and thread rapidly darting around the fabric embroidering a pattern.

"I think she will, Make sure you capture the river, we did some fishing there."

"Yes I have gotten that, I think I'm done, do you want to take a look?" She said as she dropped down from the tree, landing gracefully she walked over to where Fírnen was lying on his back.

"That's perfect! Just a few magical touches and we are done" he said, he had noticed that the sun had started to set. "We should probably just head straight to the festival shouldn't we?"

Arya spoke a few words in the ancient language to finish Fírnen's vision. "Yes, I think we can go straight there. Are you ready to talk to Saphira?"

"I think so" he said as he rolled over onto his feet.

Arya looked at the quilt before rolling it up. "So where did that timid green dragon go? The one that was shivering at the thought of meeting Saphira"

He nudged her roughly causing her to stumble. "Oh she can still scare me, But I know that she has a softer side"

Fírnen crouched down to let her climb onto his shoulders easier, with a quick flap he was in the air and he darted towards the city.

As they approached they could tell that the festivities had already begun, the sounds of music filled the air, magical lanterns hovered amongst the trees casting a warm glow across the clearing which had rows of large tables assembled. Saphira and Eragon were at the end of one table and as Fírnen and Arya touched down Saphira padded over to him.

"Fírnen, I need to tell you something important." She was cut off by the sounds of trumpets blaring. A elf bard stood up onto one of the tables and announced the beginning of the gift giving festival.

"Maybe after the ceremony?" he said, he could see the pain in her eyes and tried to focus on the festival.

The bard went around to the nobles at the tables and had them declare what their gifts were. Many were that of singing to the trees to bring better living conditions to the wildlife and the such. Eventually he made is way around to Eragon. He looked towards Saphira and with a tear in her eye she nodded for him to continue.

Eragon then stood up from his seat and proclaimed. "The gift that I have, is not just from myself but Saphira also. And it is not just for the forest but the whole of Alagaësia. We will be leaving in a weeks time with an expedition to venture into the wild with the remaining dragon eggs. Our goal is to raise a new generation of wild born dragons, ones free from the influence of humans, elves, dwarfs and urgals. This is a mission which will likely take many years to achieve but a necessary one in order to preserve the dragon species."

As Eragon went on to explain the plan, Saphira could feel Fírnen go weak at the knees, She quickly put an wing around him and pulled him close. "I'm sorry Fírnen, I was trying to tell you sooner"

As Eragon finished he was met with a standing ovation from the audience, Many of the elves came up to him and Saphira to congratulate them and wish them luck on their endeavor. The bard then went to Arya and she explained that her gift was going to be improved trade routes with the other kingdoms and the such, Fírnen was not paying any attention to her, he felt sick to his stomach and he turned to Saphira. "How long have you known?"

"Please Fírnen, Don't be like this. Our plan was to take you, Arya, Thorn and Murtagh with us, But Thorn and Murtagh need more time to recover, and when we found out that Arya was now queen....."

Before Fírnen could reply the bard had made his way to him, "And tell me green stalker, what is your gift to the forest?"

Fírnen quickly swallowed back his tears and turned to the audience. He paused for a while looking at all the elves looking up at him, he could feel Arya's sympathetic gaze on him. "A few days ago, I found a new magic in this forest. It was fierce and powerful which left me breathless" He turned to Saphira and held her gaze. "There was a river and on its banks I was swept up in its magic. I planted some seeds, deep in soil which I hoped was fertile. Although now, I am not sure if I will ever see that place again, I hope that what I sew grows into something strong, but I fear that I will never be able to watch them grow." he said mournfully. "I'm Sorry, I need to leave" he said as he turned from the clearing and walked away.

The audience was confused as to what just happened and the bard tried to make light of the situation. "Well, I guess he does have green thumbs"

The audience burst into laughter and Saphira walked off after him.

"Fírnen, Wait." Saphira called out after him. He paused on the outskirts of the clearing, his whole body trembling. "I'm Sorry Fírnen, I wanted to tell you"

"I don't get it Saphira, I thought we were good together."

"We are, But sometimes there are things greater than ourselves that need to be done, It is a sacrifice that we need to make to ensure the survival of the wild dragons." She said. He could feel her words growing cold again.

"Please Saphira, Don't go, we can stay here, in the forest, in the cave, where it is safe. Just you and me"

She put a wing over him and pulled him close. "You know that we can't do that. If the eggs hatch in the forest the elves will have too much influence on them. We are only just holding onto peace right now and if the other races feel they are left out. It could spark a new war"

"But what about what you want?"

She sighed and leaned into him, curling her tail around his. "What I want, is for you to come with us. We find a new cave and stay with each other until the end of time." She gave him a lick on his cheek. "But Arya needs you. And the elves need Arya. She cant give up her responsibilities just like I cant give up mine."

"This doesn't seem fair" he sniffed, squeezing her tail with his.

"Life rarely is. But listen, it will only be for a few years, and when Arya gets some free time you will be welcome to visit."

Fírnen stayed in her embrace, her warmth on his side comforting. "I made you a gift, I thought it would be just used in the cave but I think maybe you should take it with you." He pulled away from her and started padding back towards the clearing. Saphira turned and followed him, as they approached Fírnen gave Arya a nod and she pulled out the rolled up quilt from behind some crates. They cleared a table and started to unroll it.

Fírnen swallowed hard and announced to the audience "This is my gift to you Saphira. Your journeys maybe tough and your mission dire, but I hope that with this quilt you can take a little bit of the forest with you."

The audience gasped as before them was a beautiful quilt with a landscape embroidered on it of a familiar river bank. Saphira shook her head in shock as she took in the sight of Fírnen lying on his back fully erect with a little flag on the tip of his penis, the flag had a blue dragon on it "Fírnen this is very bold of you"

"Don't worry my love, Only you can see me, everyone else can only see the river bank" he said with a wink.

Saphira smiled and took a closer look, she could smell his scent on the quilt and knew she would take it with her. "Thank-you Fírnen, I love it. Although Maybe we take it to your cave for the next week and add some more scents to it" she said with a wink.

Fírnen smiled. "I think we think alike."

"I have a gift for you too Fírnen" she said and retrieved a boulder from behind the crates. The boulder had been hit with dragon fire and cracked, but then had been repaired with bronze lettering. As Fírnen read the inscription his heart melted, As the other elves read it as well they all started congratulating Saphira on such great poetry, She ignored them as she put a paw around his foreleg and pulled him close.

"Thank-you Saphira. I will treasure this forever"

Over the next few days, Saphira and Fírnen were inseparable, during the day Saphira tried to teach him everything she knew and at night they spent their time in each others embrace. When the day came for Saphira and Eragon to leave, Fírnen had accepted that this was not goodbye forever and he would count down the days until he could see her again.

---

Fírnen stood as noble like as he could as he inspected himself in the mirror, his scales could do with a polish but he didn't care, He puffed his chest out and took notice of his now defined muscles move under his scales, He mantled his wings slightly and admired how powerful his wing muscles had become. Weeks turned into months since Saphira had left and he had spent almost every day continuing with the training she had given him. He heard the hatch to his and Arya's treehouse open and he quickly padded over to give her a hand. He took a basket of scrolls out of her hand as she climbed up.

"Thank-you Fírnen. Looks like we have a big day of paperwork"

"You take the top half, ill do the bottom" he said as he sat the basket down on the table.

Arya and him went through the letters one by one, most of them were requests for tax exceptions, or disagreements between parties but they worked quickly to sort though them. Fírnen lacked the dexterity to sign anything but would read his half and sort them into approve or reject piles for Arya to sign later. Occasionally he would seek her guidance on something and if they didn't agree on something they would take the time to talk it over.

Eventually he got to the bottom of his pile and found a large flat wooden box addressed to him. "Oh! this one is for me"

"Must be from one of your fans" Arya jokes.

He gave it a sniff and it smelt familiar to him, he quickly used a claw to unlatch it and when he opened it his heart stopped. Arya turned to him, feeling the sudden shock to his system, his whole body completely frozen as he stared into the contents of the box. "Is everything alright-"

"Arya, we need to leave right now" he said, his voice calm but insistent

Arya gestured to her pile of paperwork, "We cant just leave, what's wrong?"

He turned the box so she could see, "Arya, I'm not asking"

Arya looked inside the box and saw a fairth of Saphira lying down, She looked tired as Eragon was standing in front of her holding a turquoise egg for them to see. "Is that what I think that is?"

"Yes" he replied his whole form shaking as his emotions welled up inside him.

Arya stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let me get a saddle and get someone to cover for us. Its going to be a long trip"

While Fírnen waited for her to get her affairs in order he took a moment to look over the treehouse. His paws twitching with excitement, his gaze drifted over to the mirror, on top of it, hanging by one of the corners was a little flag with a blue dragon on it. He smiled to himself knowing the context of it. Beside his bed he saw the boulder that Saphira had given to him, The bronze lettering had since gone green with age, making the words look like they were holding the stone together. He had already committed the words to memory but enjoyed reading them one last time.

In a world of dragons, magic and lore,

Two hearts entwined, forevermore.

Saphira and Fìrnen, a love so true,

Their bond unbreakable, a union anew.

Saphira, fierce and strong, saved the world,

Her power and courage, with wings unfurled.

But when darkness threatened to take hold,

Fìrnen saved her from despair untold.

With him by her side, she found light,

His love a beacon, shining bright.

He lifted her up, gave her hope,

Their bond unbreakable, a powerful rope.

Saphira, queen of the skies,

Fìrnen, her mate, with love in his eyes.

Their love a flame that never fades,

A bond unbreakable, in the world of shades.

So, let this poem be a testament true,

Of a love so strong, between the two.

Saphira and Fìrnen, forever bound,

Their love a song, a beautiful sound.

With Arya safely in the saddle he launched out into the sky with a joyous roar they headed in the direction of his love.