Well, I never thought I'd actually write another fanfic, but here we are. And a crossover no less. I won't really spend much time in the author's notes, so this one will probably be it. This story is taking place after the events of both series and their endings. However, my last fic, Spice and Wolf, The Home Stretch, is taken as cannon for this fic. So you may find yourself a bit lost if you haven't read it, but not irreparably so. Things to note, mental communication will be denoted with italics. Ancient language will be denoted with bold. And if both happen simultaneously, well, they're both happening simultaneously. I guess I can't say I won't ever write another fic again, but I seriously can't promise anything. I guess you'll just have to stay tuned if you like my style as I'm considering finishing a piece I never finished if I ever get the motivation to do it. Hope you guys enjoy this fic!

Strange Creatures in a Strange Land

It had been about twenty years since Eragon had decided on Mount Arngor to be the new home of the Dragon Riders. In those twenty years, the Riders' numbers had grown drastically. They were now 237 in total, and growing most every week. The wild Dragon population had grown too large to count. While the Dwarves had grown more accepting of the Dragons in their backyard since having been amended into the Blood Oath Covenant, they still weren't happy to again have to defend their herds from hungry, fire breathing lizards, as some called the Dragons. This became a point of argument many times for Eragon to mediate. The Elves, on the other hand, were all too happy to share what they had with the wild Dragons.

But by now at least, there were systems in place that allowed for more peaceful communications between wild Dragons and the populations who were… less than enthusiastic about their return. The wild Dragons had agreed to help in farming, in proportion at least, to the amount of livestock that would be set aside for them to take at their leisure. While this was not a foolproof method, it at least solved the immediate problems they faced and allowed for calmer heads to prevail in the event of one side breaking the agreement.

With the new Dragons, riders, and regulations in place, Eragon decided to make good on his decades old promise to Saphira of traversing the seas in search of other lands that may possibly contain Dragons.

"Are you sure we can leave the new Riders in charge while we just leave the whole of Alagaësia? Maybe it is too soon. There's still so much we should be doing!" Eragon agonized. Saphira just looked back at him and said, "Quit your whining and just pack the saddle. Or do you feel your secondary promise to the Order is of less importance than your far older promise to ME?!" Eragon cocked his head for a minute. "You do remember that you have been apart of that order for only a few months less than that promise is old, don't you? I wouldn't go about saying things like 'far older' unless you're speaking of something at least ten years older than the latter." Saphira blew smoke at him. "Just pack already." Eragon smiled, "As you wish."

Their journey had been planned for months. They were to travel across the sea bordering the Elves. They chose this partly out of convenience and partly out of hope that they would come across more Elves who could teach them more about magic that couldn't be learned in Alagaësia. They had left a few of the oldest Riders in charge with specific instructions to contact Queen Arya and Firnen in the event of an issue they couldn't solve. To Saphira, this should take care of any issues that would trouble Eragon. But he still worried.

"Ok Saphira. We're all packed. Are you ready to go?" Saphira responded by snaking her tail between his legs and flinging him onto her saddle before launching skyward. Eragon had only just enough time to put his hands below him to minimize the pain. Saphira just chuckled to herself.

…

It took about two weeks of flying, even with the Eldunari giving strength to Saphira during flight and replenishing her energy faster while she rested. But eventually, they all came to a distant land. "Well Saphira, it seems we have a port town ahead. Should we chance being spotted, or hide long enough to gather some information about this new land?" Saphira was a long time coming in response. "I think it best that I should hide in the water while you gather information. After all, if Dragons do not exist here, we may be startling them for no reason. And I would like to not have to avoid giant arrows like those from Teirm." Eragon nodded his ascent. "I agree. What say you Ebrithilar?"

The Eldunari inside the pinprick pocket space behind him began to stir in thought. "We shall supply Saphira with more strength first, so she may be able to defend herself without us if necessary. Then Eragon should leave with all of us to gather as much information as possible. With all of us searching the area with our minds, we should be able to gather the information we seek." Saphira was the first to respond to this plan. "While I do not doubt the wisdom of this plan, would we not be able to gather the same information from this distance?" Eragon responded to her question in place of the Eldunari. "I see your point, but as you likely remember from our training with Master Oromis, simply looking with our minds doesn't always grant the same picture. Especially if the minds we look into have no concept of what we seek."

"Understood, partner of my heart and mind. I will remain here then. Just don't take too long. You always get yourself into trouble when we're not together." She made that last sentence rather pointed. "I get it Saphira. I should be gone no more than two days before I call to you to relay our location."

As Eragon jumped into the water, he used magic to propel himself towards a secluded part of the shore. The Eldunari had already began searching the area with their minds while he worked. As their consciousness intermingled with his, he began to realize the language barrier. "What do you think about the language, Ebrithilar?" The Eldunari didn't take long. "That shouldn't take us more than a week to solve. We can decipher their language together so we can all better understand and gather our intelligence. This should be our highest priority." Eragon readily agreed and relayed their findings to Saphira. "Just don't take longer than you promised to call for me. Swimming this long wreaks havoc on my scales!" Eragon winced at that last part. She was very proud of her shining scales after all. "How does a nice scrubbing when you arrive back with us sound? I'll make sure to get every scale as soon as we are in a place that allows it." Eragon asked.

"Hmm. Just don't claim you can't do it and put it off until we get back to Mount Arngor. If you try it, I'll hold you down and lick you everywhere." Saphira said matter of factly. Eragon physically shuttered at the thought of her barbed, slimy tongue in places it should never be before responding. "Trust me, I won't do that Saphira. When have I ever done that anyways?" "There's a first time for everything Eragon." Said Saphira sarcastically.

With the last of their conversation had, Eragon threw himself into his mission of gathering as much information as he could while mainly trying to decipher the new language. As any member discovered the connection between a word in the new language and their own, it was immediately relayed. It was slow, tedious work, but they were making steady headway.

By the end of the first day, Eragon was able to read the thoughts of people quite clearly by understanding the way the thoughts were made were similar no matter the language. Even so, he still couldn't speak it just yet. However, a good portion of it was available now, thanks to the fantastic ability of the Eldunari. One of the older Eldunari came up with the plan to have each one memorize a portion and meaning, and Eragon would give them the words he wanted to speak, and they would translate for him to speak himself. And eventually, Eragon should be able to speak by himself through repetition. He would be slow in the beginning, but the system would get faster over time. He could also introduce himself as a foreigner, which would give him extra consideration for the language.

Eragon found a place in a forest, far away from the town and called Saphira. "Why did you call me so early? I thought you said you would be here two days before calling me." Eragon replied simply, "I figured that there wasn't much need to keep you in the water when we've already found that there are no Dragons, no magic users, and little of real value here for the Order. I wanted to find out what you wanted to do with you right next to me." Saphira seemed to deflate a little when she responded, "Should we call it off? It took us two weeks to make it this far, and there is no telling how much farther we would have to travel before we find a land with Dragons. If any exist at all outside of Alagaësia."

Eragon thought for a bit before responding. "Well, if it's what you want to do, then I have no right to complain. This trip is for you after all." This didn't seem to cheer her up at all and Eragon took note, as she is normally very logical. "Well, would you like to at least hear what we found while you were in the ocean Saphira?" She still looked a little dejected but turned to listen to him anyway. "We found that this is a town called Kerube. It seems to be mainly run by the Rowen Trade Guild, but loosely. I didn't get many specifics about any lords or the region. We haven't seen that before in any city in Alagaësia. I'd say it's at least worth checking the towns of this land out for a bit. Not to mention, there are a few things that intrigued me that may be worth checking into."

Saphira replied, "We should probably just leave soon if there is nothing of value here to us. No sense in shaking a hornet's nest for honey." It was then that Eragon got another idea that might cheer her up enough to continue looking at least. He didn't like that she gave up so soon after being as ready to go as she was. "Saphira, you don't suppose that the Dragons have been in decline here too, do you? Maybe we could still find a few lying around somewhere in seclusion if we just keep looking." At this, Saphira finally perked up somewhat. "Don't lie to me just to cheer me up. While the thought of that does bring me a small amount of hope, I would rather go home now than to spend far longer here for nothing."

"Saphira, have your emotions started raging again now that you're a month into carrying your second clutch?" At this, Saphira nearly took Eragon's head off if not for the last second hesitation. "I… I'm sorry, Eragon. It might be possible they are slightly abnormal. But this is perfectly normal for a Dragon. Nothing nearly as bad as when you humans are pregnant. At least I'm still sane." Eragon shuttered at the thought of her moods being as bad as a pregnant human woman. "You are right about that Saphira." At that she stood up to start looking for a stream so Eragon could make good on his recent promise to her. However, Eragon stopped her. "Saphira, I hate to give you bad news, but…" "Then don't." Saphira interrupted. "Come now Saphira. You know I wouldn't needlessly upset you. But the forest here isn't dense enough to hide us for long. We need to find a thicker forest to hide your scales. And since your personal history shows convincingly that you won't muddy your scales on purpose, it would be safer to fly to a denser forest."

"But did you not say there were no magic users? Aside from scaring a person or two, what danger would they pose?" Saphira questioned. "Weren't you the one who didn't want to stir up a hornet's nest looking for honey?" To this she responded, unimpressed. "That was for the whole town. Not a single traveler. Even if one or two is more dangerous than they seem, I doubt they can overpower us all." Eragon tiredly gave his reply. "I mentioned earlier that there were some things that intrigued me did I not?"

"You did. What of them?" she asked, irritated. "I found a few people here in the town who seemed to be human, but not quite. I only found a few, and one of them left the town sometime later. It wasn't long before I lost track of their consciousness when I got distracted by something else. It was as if they had suddenly moved a great distance in the short few minutes I was focused on something else. And as the Eldunari agreed to focus on different things, none of them saw what I saw. All that I know was that magic wasn't involved that I was aware of, and their minds held a slight animalistic quality to them. But it was clearly similar to that of the Elves. Similar, but different as well."

At this, Saphira ceased her griping and became interested. "Was this like Blödhgarm's mind?" Eragon shook his head. "No, while I can say it had a few similarities, there weren't enough to say it was the same thing." Saphira pondered this for a few minutes before posing her question to the Eldunari. "Ebrithil Umaroth, if you and the others were to examine a few of these minds, would you perhaps be able to conclude if they are connected to the Elves changing spells?" Umaroth thought for a moment and responded, "Yes. I do think it to be possible that we could. Eragon, could you direct us to the mind that you felt earlier which did not leave? After that, we should find a new town with more minds like that one to compare." All in attendance agreed. Eragon was just happy he didn't have to convince Saphira to leave anymore.

As Saphira was flying to another city, they all discussed what the Eldunari had discovered in the mind of the one man in the city possessing animalistic qualities. "What we discovered was that this man was clearly thinking as a sheep. We didn't search his memories, as we have no true need to invade his privacy in such a manor, but he also did seem quite fond of actual sheep, as he thought of them often. Most seemed to have names." Eragon asked his question next. "Did they seem like family pets? Or were they closer than that? Maybe fully transformed Elves?" Umaroth responded, "It did not seem that they were mere pets. However, they were not transformed Elves. He clearly thought of them as sheep. But they were considered friends and family by him. We may need to reveal ourselves to at least one person like this and ask permission into their mind if they do not quite know themselves the answer to this riddle."

Saphira closed the conversation for now, as it was achieving nothing but speculation, by speaking up. "Everyone, we have arrived at another large town. This one has a bountiful forest in which I can hide, as well as being big enough to possibly hide more of these strange humans." The Eldunari all stretched out their thoughts to the city at once. "We sense a few of these people here in the city. But it seems a vast amount more are in the forest. However, those in the forest seem to be more animal with human thinking patterns than the reverse. Saphira, be careful where you land. I fear not all of the animals in this forest are truly animals as they may seem."

"Understood Ebrithil Umaroth." Said Saphira before landing in a more secluded area of the forest. "Now for some true rest. Please, Ebrithilar, watch over the surrounding area while we sleep. For I fear in our condition, we may not be able to tell the difference between animal and these strange new creatures." At once, they all responded in the ancient language with, "We shall."