Prologue

Greetings!

My name is Eragon Shadeslayer. You have been chosen to take part in the Dragon Riders' Egg Celebration, in hopes that maybe one egg will choose you as their Rider. We will be sending two Riders to take you and one family member to our island for a ten-day trip. In the events of you being chosen, you will be able to go back to your family for a month to say good-bye, so you will want to pack accordingly. We hope to see you there!

~Eragon

Mattie looked with anticipation at the letter that had arrived by bird, and had been addressed to her. She was so excited! She had never really been noticed much (her older brother had always been much louder and more needy) so she had expected for her application to be missed. Maybe Alfred had pulled a few strings…? She didn't know, but she couldn't wait to show her mother and father.

Her long blond hair flew out behind her as she raced for the kitchen. "Mother! Mother! Look, the Riders accepted me!"

Her mother turned around, smiling widely. She was pretty (much prettier than Mattie herself, at least in Mattie's opinion) with bright, sky blue eyes and beautiful blond hair- her figure wasn't one to be sneezed at, either. "That's brilliant! Let me see!"

Mattie was barely holding in her squeals of delight. Every three years, a group of teenagers was herded to the 'Egg Celebration', in which they all lined up and touched an egg in hopes that they would cause a reaction in it and become bonded to the dragon inside, thus joining the Dragon Riders.

Her older brother Alfred had taken his place six years ago, and now it was her turn to see if she'd get a dragon. It was rare for siblings to both even have the chance, let alone be Riders.

Her musings were interrupted by her mother squealing as well. "We have to show your father!" Mattie laughed and ran after her mother.

"Father, Father!" She giggled.

Her dad turned to her. "Hmm?"

"Mother, give him the letter!"

Mattie's mother gave her father the letter. He read it and started laughing. "Another one, huh? Good job, Mattie!"

Mattie couldn't stop smiling. She thought she would never be able to be compared to Alfred… But now she might just be.

Gilbert looked over the letter with no real expression. "Hmm… Isn't this where West went? I really can't wait to show him… But Vati might not be so happy… Huh, I'll show him later…" The albino put the letter on the table in the kitchen for his father to see later and went to take a nap.

Lovina stared at her brother, sharing the same look of 'wut' on her face. "So… You got accepted too?"

Feliciano nodded. "Ve~ Yeah."

"I wonder how Grace will react." Lovina murmured. Their third sister hadn't been accepted, apparently. And she practically drooled over the Riders. That meant 'wonder' was more like 'how hard will she blow up this time'.

Grace wasn't usually violent, but when she was, it was terrifying. It typically happened when someone hurt her family, but other than that, only when she was very hurt. Their grandpa had always said it happened because she tended to bottle up her emotions, whatever he meant by that.

Feliciano shrugged. "I hope it's not too bad, though…"

Lovina hummed in agreement. "I can't wait to show Grandpa, though."

"Ve~ Yeah, he'll be so happy!" Feliciano squealed in delight.

His smile was contagious, and Lovina couldn't help but give him a smile in return. She honestly hoped that at least one of them would become a Rider, if only to make Feli happy.

~The Riders' Camp, Campfire~

"So we have your little sister and Lee's little brother coming this year?" Alfred looked up at his friend Antonio.

"Yeah; I hope that Mattie makes it in. She'd love it here, and she definitely deserves a dragon." Alfred turned back to his marshmallow. "Plus, when I visited last time, she and Varonis* totally hit it off." He was referring to his gray male dragon, who was in the dragon's caves hanging with the other dragons.

"I wonder how Lee's little bro did with Stella? Probably not too extremely well, based on how she was when she came back…" Antonio trailed off. "Oh well. I can't wait to see the new recruits! Wonder how small they'll be this year…"

A girl across the fire smirked. "Hopefully naïve as well, no?"

"Shut it, Franny." Antonio smiled, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "We all know you love the younger boys; but you'd better not touch Lee's younger bro, because I have a feeling she'll hurt you if you do."

"Ooo, Laiklyn has a younger brother? Must be pretty hot then, cuz she certainly is." Francesca smiled.

Just then, Arthur showed up. "Who are you talking about this time, frog?"

She giggled. "Laiklyn, but you are too, so don't be jealous."

Arthur stared at her for a moment, then seemed to snap out of a trance. "You little-"

Alfred stepped in before it could get violent. "Alright, stop, guys! I believe we had all better get to bed, the ceremony is tomorrow. Good night."

The rest of the group mumbled 'good-night's to each other before heading off to their own dorms, ready to get to sleep and be prepared for the next morning.

A/N: I KNOW I SHOULD BE WORKING ON TRAPPED WITH IDIOTS. AND EXPECTANCIES AND DISSAPOINTMENTS. BUT THE PLOT BUNNIES WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE I'M SORRY.

So hi again~ Um yeah, I'm almost done with the next chapter already... I'm pretty sure.

...So, yup! Basically their reactions. Poor Gil, his dad doesn't seem to care much about anything. Also, yes, Fem!Germany/Laiklyn/Lee is indeed Prussia/Gilbert's older sister in this.

I hope you liked it, and I know it was short, but I'll try to write more soon!

Auf Wiedersehen!

~RedWhiteNBlue