DISCLAIMER: I do not own Eragon. This is also my first Eragon fic, so I'm sorry if it sucks. I have the tendency to change stories and write my own way.

"Kyle!" Leah Zorn yelled as she slammed her fist on the bedroom door of her best friend, Kyle Roberts. "You already came out of the closet, so why don't you just come out of the house?!"

"I can't!" Karl called through the door.

"Why not?"

Kyle opened the door. A purple and blue bruise circled his left eye. "This is why. This is what happens when you go on vacation and leave me alone to fend for myself."

"Who did this?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does! Who did it? I'll kill whoever did this to you."

"Well, who else would it be?"

"Chad Reynolds," Leah growled. She grabbed Kyle's wrist and dragged him out the door. "Let's go. I'm going to smash him so flat that he has to look up to look down."

"Leah! Stop it!"

"Kyle, you chicken. Quit dragging your feet and walk."

Leah marched out of the house, still hanging on to Kyle's arm. She didn't release him until she found Chad at his favorite spot on the Los Angeles beach. Chad looked up at Leah with green eyes like gemstones. He stood up and smiled at her.

"Hey, beautiful," Chad greeted charmingly. Then he made a face at Kyle. "What's he doing here?"

"You're pathetic, Chad," Leah said angrily. "What did Kyle ever do to you that you keep beating him up?"

"Come here, Leah. Let me have a word with you." Chad slipped his arm around Leah's waist and pulled her away from Kyle. "I've always wondered why you'd rather hang out with a gawky kid like him instead of me." Chad began slowly sliding his hand down Leah's backside.

"Do you want to know why?" Leah asked, stepping closer.

"Tell me."

"He's not an arrogant ass." Leah rammed her knee between Chad's legs. She thrust her index and middle fingers into his Adam's apple and pushed down, forcing the green-eyed boy down into the sand. She grabbed a handful of his white T-shirt and hauled him up so the two were face to face. "I should cut off your balls and staple them to your head so you can be an official dickhead." Leah pushed Chad back into the sand and began walking away. Kyle quickly followed after her.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you when we go our separate ways for college."

Leah shot him an angry look. "If you'd listened to me and took martial arts like I told you to, you wouldn't have a problem defending yourself."

Kyle looked down at his feet. "I know."

"Your training starts tomorrow. Be at my house by seven."

"But I eat dinner at seven."

"Seven in the morning, you Froot Loop."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Shut up, you wuss. I start my training at five."

"Oh, man," Kyle moaned in despair.

The two walked in silence the rest of the way back to Kyle's house. Leah parted ways and went home. It was a long fifteen-minute walk home. The sun began to set on the California horizon. Leah stopped for a minute to stare out at the sun dipping below the beach. The evening breeze tossed her straight, honey-colored hair about. Leah closed her eyes and breathed in the salty California breeze. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans and continued walking toward home. She loved the laid-back lifestyle of California. It was a huge contrast to the hustle and bustle of New York City. She was so glad that her foster mother got a job transfer. New York just wasn't the place for Leah. The southwestern coast was where she felt at home.

The gently breeze suddenly became a strong gust of cold wind. Leah folded her arms across her chest and shivered in her thin pink T-shirt.

Ugh, Leah thought. The weather's acting up again.

"Brisingr," she muttered absentmindedly and suddenly wasn't cold anymore.

Then the wind stopped completely. So did Leah. That was strange. Leah shook her head and kept walking.

"Leah…"

Leah whipped around. There was no one behind her. She looked all around herself. She was alone on the darkening Los Angeles street.

"Leah. I need you, Leah…"

"Who are you? What do you want?" Leah called out.

"Leah…"

Leah let out of shriek of horror and sank to her knees. She grasped her head in her hands. The voice was inside her head. The same voice had haunted her a little over a year ago. Her foster mother had sent her to a shrink to get therapy. After a few months, the voice disappeared completely. It had been seven months since Leah had heard the voice. It wasn't a frightening voice though. It was a deep, soothing voice of a teenage boy, but the fact that the voice echoed in her head made Leah fear it. Then strange words in some foreign language echoed in Leah's ears.

"Leave me alone!" Leah screamed.

A bright light flashed in the darkening sky. Leah could feel her consciousness slipping out of her head. She whispered one last word before she passed out.

"Eragon…"

Eragon opened his eyes from a deep sleep. He sat up and tried to recall his dream. There was a girl with a strange accent and wearing strange clothes in a very strange city. Her name was Leah. She had heard a voice and collapsed in the street. Eragon smiled, recognizing the girl like a childhood friend. Just as the Leah lost her consciousness, she had called Eragon's name.

Eragon stared out into the thick woods of the Spine. He had come back from his training in foreign elf lands to see Arya. Unfortunately, she had already married another man for "political alliances." When Eragon had his fortune told, he had been told that he would a romance with a woman of nobility, but it may not work out. And so, it didn't work out. Angry and heartbroken, Eragon had fled into the Spine to the clearing that he had often retreated to since he was a child. He was safe here and nothing mattered.

"Saphira?" Eragon called out with his mind.

"I'm right here," Saphira answered.

"Do you think what that sage said was true? About another Rider coming from another land?"

"No one can be sure. We'll just have to see what happens. Anyway, did you sleep well?"

"Yes."

"You were calling out to someone in your sleep."

"I was?"

"Yes. Someone named Leah. The old sage said that you would call the new Rider but may not know that you are doing so."

Eragon stood up but was suddenly thrown back by a flash of bright light in the dim forest. Once the light faded, he could see that there was a girl lying unconscious in the middle of the clearing. As the girl began to stir, Saphira began to growl at the stranger.

"It's okay, Saphira. It's exactly like the old sage said. I think she may be the new Rider." Eragon stood up again and slowly walked toward the strange girl. She wore light blue pants that clung tightly to her slender legs and a pink shirt that showed off her curvy body and slim arms.

"It's her, Saphira. The girl from my dreams."

"I thought Arya was the girl from your dreams," Saphira said sarcastically.

Eragon ignored Saphira's remark and knelt down by the unconscious girl. "Leah," he murmured, enjoying the way the name rolled of his tongue.

Leah slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She rubbed the sore spot on the side of her head. She looked at Eragon, and her mind immediately ran in circles.

"Um, where am I?" Leah asked.

"Alagaësia."

"Ala-who?"

"Alagaësia."

"Okay… Am I at the Renaissance Fair or something?"

"The what?"

"Never mind. Okay, I bet you can tell that I'm not from around here, so could you be so kind to point me in the direction of Los Angeles?"

"I'm sorry, I've never heard of that place."

"Are you kidding me? Everyone knows Los Angeles. The City of Angels. You know, in California."

Eragon shook his head. "Leah-"

"How do you know my name?" Leah demanded, suspicious.

"Uh…well…"

"Oh my God," Leah gasped. She quickly backed away from Eragon. She got up to her feet and began looking for an escape. "You're him. That voice. Why did you call me here? What do you want?"

"I didn't-" Then Eragon recalled what the old sage had told him.

"You will call the new Rider, although you may not know it."

I did it, Eragon thought. He had called the new Rider, but he didn't know it would be her.

"Who are you?" Leah asked.

"Don't you know me?"

"No… That's why I asked you who you are."

"We've spoken before, Leah. Don't you remember?" Eragon took a step closer to Leah.

Leah took two steps back. "I don't know you."

Eragon kept walking closer. Leah backed up as far as she could until a tree blocked her way.

"Stay away from me," she warned.

"I won't hurt you, I promise." Eragon stretched out his hand and reached for Leah's forehead.

"What are you doing?"

Eragon gently pressed his fingertips to Leah's forehead. "I'm just helping you remember." He closed his eyes and muttered ancient words. He reached into her mind and brought dusty memories into consciousness.

Leah gasped and stared wide-eyed at the boy in front of her. "Eragon…"