Saphira quickly discovered that Eragon had apparently lost his memories. He didn't remember her name any more, for example. Or that she even existed at all. Using her superior dragon mind powers, she rummaged through his memories after he fell asleep - ethics are for humans, after all - and discovered that he'd lost all the memories since her hatching. She also discovered he had some really weird kinks, but she wasn't interested in that.
This was a huge opportunity. She could bring this iteration of Eragon up to not be such an idiot. She could... she couldn't think of anything else right then, but she was sure she could think of more eventually.
She wagged her tail. She'd never told any of the humans about this habit because she felt it was embarrassing, so she usually tried to smile instead, but nobody was watching. A long time ago, after much hesitation, she'd discreetly asked Glaedr whether he did it too.
He'd refused to answer. Hmph. Just like a male.
The next morning, Eragon tried to stuff her into a small treehouse. "You'll be safer here," he said, after which Saphira bit him (lightly). After much struggle, Eragon had eventually managed it and left her sulking in the back of the shoddy construction.
As she gnawed on the dumb leather leash, she pondered how Eragon's actions had been exactly the same as they had been the first time round. If you set a person's memory back and put him in the same conditions, he would do the same things. Imagine that.
Well, the first thing she had to do was to stop Eragon from thinking of her as an animal. Before, he had treated her like a horse to ride on and a cat to provide emotional reassurance - but never as an actual person. She could probably do this using a carrot and stick policy - reward and punishment.
She spat out the chewed ends of the leash and stepped out - brrrr, cold! - and retreated back into the treehouse. Eragon, you just wait.
Eragon approached the treehouse quickly, glancing around in a highly suspicious way. He stood on tiptoe to peer into the treehouse, and Saphira leapt out onto his head. He promptly fell down.
Saphira pulled at his hair with her foreclaws when he tried to shake her off, and snapped at his fingers when he reached for her. Even though she was getting dizzy with his spastic thrashing, she wasn't going to let go now.
Stop it, Eragon! she firmly commanded.
Eragon stopped it. He expressed his confusion out loud in a way that would be painful to try to type out, with the general gist of "Is this dragon talking to me?"
I'm, uh, explained Saphira, who then thought frantically for something to say that would make the dumb boy listen to her.
I'm Saphira, and I'm the wisest, most beautiful dragon in Alagaesia. If you obey me, you won't ever go wrong. she said, and flapped her weak wings a little to try and get a better seat on his head.
Don't you dare put me in that treehouse again. From now on, you'll carry me with you at all times. Is that clear?
Eragon, clearly intimidated, nodded. Mission accomplished.