Street Rat

The sky was dark, rain pounded down on the rooftops. Waves beat against the port walls, rocking the ships tethered in the harbor. Teirm's cobbled streets flooded with rainwater, the alleys becoming winding streams, and the main highways raging rivers. Those few unlucky enough to be caught outside in this storm were swept off their feet and carried along with the current. If they were twice as unlucky they would be carried all the way to the port. Thrice as unlucky and instead of a rescue a watery grave awaited them in the ocean's depths.

It was in this kind of weather that Raye found herself one of the unlucky. She struggled against the deluge of water, clawing her way up the side of a partially submerged building. As the skinny wraith of a girl fought her way upwards, the pipe that she had been using as a foothold unexpectedly gave way. Raye slipped and would have been drowned in the current, (thus ending our story) had she not managed to snatch the end of a stray clothesline. The thin rope cut into the girl's hands as she struggled to haul herself up. After what seemed like a lifetime Raye managed to heave herself onto the roof of the building.

She lay there catching her breath for a moment. Eventually she flipped herself over and rose into a crouching position, back to the wind. Raye silently cursed herself for being so stupid. Earlier that day she had stolen an apple from a farmer's cart and, feeling cocky after going undiscovered, had decided to go for bigger prey. Raye had picked out the perfect mark, a balding middle-aged man in fine-looking clothes. She had never tried her hand at pickpocketing, but she had watched other street rats do it, and honestly how hard could it be? Raye had stealthily snuck up behind the man; carefully reaching into his pocket until she felt the cords of his purse.

Just as Raye clenched her fist around the fat purse the man, moving much faster than she had thought him capable of, grabbed her by the wrist. She yelped in surprise, hurriedly jerking her hand free, though the man let go easily. Instead of the anger she had expected the man frowned, looking at her filthy clothes and dirty face with disapproval and pity. "How old are you?" the man asked, looking at Raye with concern in his eyes, "You can't be much older than ten, but there's hardly anything to you besides skin and bones! Already on the streets at your age…" The man sighed.

Raye was taken aback. What kind of loon was this? No one had ever paid any attention to her other than the kicks she got from the more malicious passerby, and here this man was taking pity on her! It must be some kind of trick.

As a farmer's cart came rumbling past Raye suddenly dashed behind it, fleeing into a nearby alley. The man tried to run after her, yelling, "Wait!" but she was already far-gone. Because of the loon she couldn't think straight all afternoon, and by the time she noticed the encroaching storm it was already on top of her.

The rain was coming down harder now and Raye knew that if she stayed outside much longer the cold would kill her. She'd seen what happened to those poor people, the street rats who were steadily frozen to death, the chill sinking into their bones until they stopped moving. Raye crawled forward, noticing a chimney in front of her. She stood up; gripping the rough bricks tightly, and peered in to the chimney's top. No luck, the owner had put a cover up, a wise decision it this sort of weather.

There was a window nearby, but Raye didn't even think to knock on it. Who would let a half-drowned street rat into their house? A sudden gust of wind knocked her from the chimney, slamming her up against the window. She began sliding off the side of the roof. Raye frantically grabbed at the window frame, hooking her fingers over the windowsill. Suddenly the window lit up from inside, a shadow appearing against the glass. Raye didn't dare let go, praying that the homeowner would show some mercy and leave her alone instead of pushing her off the roof.

The window began to creak open. Hot tears ran down Raye's face, she was going to die; the owner would push her off into the floodwaters below. She didn't have the strength to drag herself up from the depths again.

As her last hope faded, Raye considered letting go to save her murderer the trouble of detaching her from the roof. Suddenly a hand grasped her shoulder. Raye went limp, too tired to resist, and the wind immediately started to snatch at her frail body. However the hand still gripped her tightly, now starting to pull her towards the window. Then another hand grabbed her other shoulder and pulled her into the warm confines of the house. Raye felt her face meet soft carpet, and then her exhaustion overtook her and the world dissolved into darkness.

###

Raye squinted against the bright light streaming in through the window. She sat up, taking in the sight of smooth wooden floors, velvet curtains, and other such lavish decorations. This was her first time seeing such wealth, and she sat in the huge bed, stunned by it all. In her head she started calculating how much it was all worth and if there were any pieces small enough to be concealed in her pockets.

Just as Raye was prepared to spring from the bed and out of the open window, the door swung open. In walked a pretty blonde woman, carrying a tray of food. She wasn't dressed like a servant, in fine silks and embroidery. The woman seemed to be in her thirties, she was thin and tall. They both froze staring at each other.

The woman sighed, setting the tray down on a nearby table. She put her hands on her hips, looking at Raye in a disapproving fashion. "Are you planning to scurry on out of that window or not?"

Raye just stared at her in disbelief. The woman sighed again, muttering something about ungrateful street rats. Raye caught sight of the contents of the tray, enticing looking biscuits, warm from the oven. Her stomach growled loudly, and she flinched, expecting disgust from the woman. Instead the strange woman's eyes softened a little and she said in a less harsh tone, "Well you might as well have some food. Get down from that window already, you'd think I was some kind of monster based on you behavior." The woman turned around to pull up a couple chairs to the table, and Raye cautiously climbed down form the windowsill, still wary of her host.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and eat."

Raye slunk closer to the table, slowly reaching out to pluck a warm biscuit form the tray. She bit into it, savoring the taste of warm bread. She couldn't remember the last time she ate fresh bread. Mostly she had scavenged from the bakery's stale castoffs. Suddenly tears began to stream down her cheeks as she ate the bread, Raye choked on the it, sobbing uncontrollably while still stuffing the bread into her mouth.

Surprised the woman looked around frantically for something to calm the hysterical little girl with, but finding nothing she hesitantly patted her on the back, muttering, "There, there it's alright."

###

After Raye had calmed down a bit the woman sat back to watch her eat. As Raye slowly worked her way through the stack of biscuits the woman said, "My name is Helen Longshanks." She looked expectantly at Raye.

Raye swallowed her last bite of biscuit and whispered, "I'm Raye."

Helen eyed her ragged clothes and bare feet, "How long have you been on the streets?"

Raye tried to count it up in her head. Her mother had died in the winter of her seventh year. After that she had fled to the streets to live like a dog on scraps. The winters' bitter cold had been the worst part of living on the streets; many children would freeze to death during the nights. "About four winters?" she guessed.

Suddenly a knock came on the door, "Helen? Are you in there?"

Helen called back, "Yes, our guest has woken up."

The door once again swung open, this time to reveal the man whose pocket Raye had recently tried to pick. Raye gave a squeak of surprise, instinctively leaping to the windowsill.

"Wait! Hold on a moment!" the man shouted, desperation in his voice. "We mean you no harm!"

Helen had stood up too now and was looking back and forth between Raye and the man. "How do you know this girl, Jeod?"

Raye felt like disappearing. She didn't want Helen to hate her for trying to steal from this man. Helen was the only person to have shown Raye any kindness in a long time; she didn't want to betray that trust.

The man glanced over at Raye. "Oh we just saw each other in the street the other day." he said easily. Raye stared at the man. He wasn't angry with her? The man crouched down in front of Raye, offering his hand to the wispy girl. "My name's Jeod Longshanks, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jeod smiled up at her, and to the surprise to all those in the room, including herself, Raye jumped into his open arms.

###

Ever since that day, Helen and Jeod had taken Raye into their home. They didn't ask any questions, just cleaned up the bedraggled street rat and gave her a place to stay. Helen was often out managing her steadily growing trade empire. The woman was amazing negotiator, in the first week of Raye's stay alone she sent four shipments of goods to Dars Leona, and sold a shipment from Surda for a huge profit. The empire had grown so substantially mainly because of its ties to Surda. Helen told Raye about getting her initial starting loan from the Dragon Rider, Eragon, during the war, and using it to establish herself in the trade market. Her tales of living with the Varden fascinated Raye, though Helen was not very forthcoming. She didn't seem to have enjoyed her time there much.

Raye went to Jeod to hear tales of the Varden. She'd been too occupied with surviving on the streets to pay any attention to the war going on, but now she couldn't get enough of Jeod's tales. It amazed her that this unassuming bookworm had actually met such heroes as Nasuada and Eragon Shadeslayer. They seemed larger than life to her, a street rat.

One day, Jeod found Raye in his study, browsing through the books, looking for pictures. When she admitted that she couldn't read he took on the task of tutoring her with great enthusiasm. Raye learned quickly, and soon she developed the habit of curling up with a book in the strangest of places. Jeod once found her asleep in the rafters, after she had climbed up there to read a book she had nicked from his collection.

Helen noticed Raye's lack of manners, and took it upon herself to turn this street rat into a proper young lady. Raye enjoyed these lessons far less than Jeod's reading and writing classes. But she put up with them for Helen's sake.

###

A year passed in this fashion, and Raye slowly began to grow out of her shell. Helen made sure to feed her plenty of food, and though she remained skinny from her years of malnutrition, Raye gained a healthy bit of weight. The former street rat grew to love her new family, and though she rarely mentioned her life before that fateful storm, she was happy.

###

One day Raye came running into Jeod's study, her mop of long red hair bouncing, and her green eyes alive with news.

"Hey Jeod! Guess what I heard in the market today!" she exclaimed, excitedly.

"Hmm?" he asked, not looking up from his book.

"Taran says their bringing dragon eggs! He says they're looking for the next Dragon Riders and all the kids get to line up and touch the eggs! Do you think I'll get to touch one? I've never seen a real, live dragon egg before!" Raye belted out.

Jeod looked up form his book in surprise, "Dragon eggs? In Teirm?"

"Yup!" said Raye, "Queen Nasuada announced it. Eragon Shadeslayer is sending some elves with eggs to go around all the cities. There are two eggs going to the elves and two to the humans." Raye cocked her head to the side, thinking. "I think he said the dwarves and Urgals are getting some too." She looked up at Jeod, her eyes wide with possibility. "When do you think they'll come? I can't wait to see them!"

Jeod suddenly sprung up from his desk, surprising Raye. He rushed to put on his coat, getting tangled up in the sleeves in his hurry. The man's eyes lit up like they did when he told Raye about the Varden, and he turned to Raye, saying, "I'm going to go find out more about this." Jeod started rushing to the door, Raye following in his wake. "To think, dragon eggs coming to Teirm! This is amazing!" Jeod rushed out the door and into the crowd. Raye shrugged her shoulders, used to Jeod's erratic behavior. She would find out what happened at dinner.

###

At dinner that night Jeod explained that Eragon Shadeslayer had released eight eggs to be ferried between the races in an attempt to find new Riders. There were two eggs going to each race, and they would be transported by the elves that had accompanied Eragon in his journey to find a suitable place to train the new Riders. Eragon Shadeslayer would not be making an appearance, choosing instead to remain in the east to await the new Riders.

The two eggs sent to the humans would be brought in a circuit from Aberon in Surda, to Feinster, then Belatona, Dars Leona, and then to Teirm. After that it would be sent to the capital city, Ilirea, then Gil'ead, and finally up to Ceunon. The eggs had already arrived in Aberon.

Over the course of the next few weeks Raye and Jeod tracked the progress of the eggs, Helen looking on in amusement. A Rider had not been found in any of the cities so far. The duo's excitement grew with each passing day, as the eggs drew closer and closer to Teirm.

###

Anticipation had been building all day in Teirm. The eggs had left Dars Leona two days ago, and they should be arriving any day now. Raye had climbed up on Teirm's wall with some other children, hoping to be the first to spot the caravan that would bring the eggs to their port city. Raye eagerly leaned forward; she couldn't wait till the eggs arrived. Jeod had told her all about meeting Eragon Shadeslayer and his dragon, Saphira. His favorite story was about the time he was given a ride on Saphira's back. Whenever he told this story his eyes would light up with the memory of flying through the air. Raye had tried to imagine what it would be like to feel those smooth scales beneath her as she ascended into the clouds on the back of a dragon. The very thought of it took her breath away.

Raye was gazing out over the horizon, lost in thought, when a shout sounded along the wall. "The eggs! I can see the eggs!" Raye instantly jumped up, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of the long-awaited caravan. There it was, off on the horizon, a cloud of dust coming closer and closer. She watched as it grew larger in her vision, it soon became possible to pick out the figures of elves, riding atop white horses. The elves were escorted by a squadron of soldiers, boasting the crest of the Nighthawks, the elite personal guards of Queen Nasuada herself. Raye stayed watching from the wall as the caravan drew closer, erupting into cheers with the rest of the crowd when they passed through the gates. Raye ran home to tell Jeod the news, weaving through the mass of people who had come out to welcome the caravan and its precious cargo to Teirm.

###

Later that afternoon, Lord Risthart announced that the eggs would be opened to the public in the main square the following day. Starting with the children, all citizens of Teirm would file past the egg to touch it and test their chances at being the next Dragon Rider. The elves and the Nighthawks would of course be present the whole time in order to guard the eggs.

At dinner that night Raye was more quiet than usual, seemingly thinking hard about something. Jeod and Helen waited for the girl to tell them what was on her mind. Raye raised her head to look at the two of them, her green eyes hooded and deep in thought. "Do you think they'll let me in to see the dragon eggs? Even though I'm a street rat?"

Helen and Jeod sat in silence, stunned by Raye's question. It was Helen who broke the silence, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright with outrage, "Of course they'll let you in to see the eggs! How dare they think to stop you!"

Jeod cut in, saying quietly," Your not a street rat anymore, Raye." Raye looked up in surprise at his smiling face, "We've made sure of that." Jeod glanced over at Helen and then back a Raye. "You're family now, and we'll always take care of you." Raye looked back and forth between Jeod and Helen in shock, before bursting into happy tears.

###

The next day the line for the dragon eggs stretched all the way to the port, winding its way through the city streets. People had come in to the city from all over. The inns were overflowing with folk from the country and city alike, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the eggs.

Raye and Jeod had risen extra early that morning to get a spot in line. Raye had lined up with the other children, waiting for her chance to enter the tent, which contained the long-awaited eggs. As she drew nearer to the tent her excitement escalated. Jeod had told her that dragon eggs were more beautiful than the rarest gemstone, smooth and shining, all the colors of the rainbow. Raye watched as the boy in front of her entered the tent for his turn to touch the eggs. The two Nighthawks standing guard by the tent's flap pulled it aside to allow the boy entry. Raye looked around for Jeod, spotting him in the crowd that had formed off to the right. She waved, and Jeod waved in return. One of the Nighthawks gestured to her, saying," Your turn now." Too nervous to speak, Raye simply nodded in return, slipping into the dark confines of the tent.

Inside the tent two elves sat poised and graceful. It was Raye's first time seeing an elf, and the creatures fascinated her, their unearthly beauty and air of mystery made her pause frozen in the entryway. Noticing her hesitation a woman who had been sitting next to the elves hopped up, dropping her knitting needles, a wide smile across her face.

"Well, hello there! What's you name?" she said, cheerily.

Raye stared at her, before whispering, "R-Raye"

"Well, then Raye, go on, don't be shy, I promise they won't bite." The strange woman said, winking at Raye.

Raye hesitantly entered the tent, and the woman propelled her toward a table in the corner that she hadn't noticed before. Raye's eyes widened in wonder, there on the table sat the dragon eggs. They were every bit as amazing as Jeod had described them, one was golden, its sparkling surface infused with veins of warm amber, and the other was a brilliant red, ruby and garnet with veins of light red, almost pink.

All hesitation gone, Raye hurried to the side of the table, gazing, enraptured at the two eggs. The strange woman nudged her, "Go on, you can touch them." Raye reached out to carefully brush the red egg. It was warm to the touch, as if it contained an inner fire. Raye was ecstatic just to be finally touching a dragon egg, but the woman behind her muttered, "No luck with this one, how about you try the other?"

Raye reluctantly moved her hand away from the red egg, and turned to the golden one. This egg was beautiful, in her opinion even more so than the red one. It shone in the dim light like a star, the light gold almost white hues in it sparkling. Raye reached out to touch the egg. As her fingers brushed the smooth surface she felt something. A stirring deep within the glistening shell. Raye panicked, not knowing what to do. She snatched her hand back form the egg, looking around at the others in shock. The elves had stood up, and were staring at the egg. The strange woman's face broke into a wide smile, and she let out a low whistle.

Raye tried to apologize, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" but the woman cut her off.

"Well look what we have here!" she said, "You're one tiny Dragon Rider. I'm Angela, by the way. Ha! I bet Solembum wishes he were here now."

One of the elves approached Raye, saying, "Hail, Argetlam."

Raye wheeled away from the elves, facing the woman again. "There must have been a mistake!" she cried, almost in hysterics, "I'm just a street rat! I can't-there's no way I could be a Rider!"

Angela crouched down level with the girl. "There was no mistake," she said, smiling, "The dragon chose you to be its Rider."

Raye stared at the woman, her eyes wide. After a moment she asked in a quiet voice, "What do I do now?"

Angela laughed aloud, saying; "Now we go introduce you!" Before Raye had time to resist, Angela grabbed her hand, eagerly dragging her to the entryway. She threw open the tent's flap, thrusting Raye forward into the bright sunlight. Then in a loud voice she announced, "Hail, Raye, the new Rider!" Raye looked around at all the shocked faces, trying to find Jeod in the crowd. The silence was suddenly broken by a chorus of cheers, gaining momentum, until the crowd was chanting, "Raye! Raye! Raye!" Raye still searched for any sign of Jeod in the crowd, now with increasing panic.

Then she saw him. Jeod stood in the midst of the crowd, beaming at her. He waved, and Raye, the new Rider, waved back.