A/N: (Okay, first off, I am SOOOO sorry for such a delay! I feel SOOOO awful...but I have been so busy...I'm giving up the time I SHOULD be doing my homework during to update this, so I hope you like it. I'm sorry it's not longer but everything has been so hectic lately...gr. Well, I hope you like this and have a great day! Happy Halloween everybody! Laterz, -Writing Fairy-)
Chapter 3, Things You Don't Know
Briam landed lightly on the cliff with a cautiousness that made Raeliesha smile softly. It was at times like this that she could see Briam's affection for her. He wasn't a very expressive dragon except for when he was angry or impatient, she didn't think many dragons were very expressive to begin with anyway so she didn't think much of it. She slid off of Briam's back asking conversationally, "So, what's Saphira like?"
Briam plodded in the cave after her and watched as she lit the fire with the ancient word 'brisingr' before responding in a low growl, She was bloody and weary from battle. I have no comments.
"That's interesting." Raeliesha smirked with an odd expression on her face. But she knew better than to push it. When he had something to say, he'd say it.
Arya.
"What about her?" His Rider asked trying to sound carefree as she pulled some vegetables and fruit out of her bag but her face went slack and he eyes caught a slight chill about them.
I vaguely remember her. But I must have been but a hatchling. Who is she? Briam asked, purposefully ignoring to her discomfort on the subject.
She went quiet for a long time as she chopped up the various vegetables. Finally she brandished a pot, "Go get me some water and when you come back I'll tell you."
o-o-o-o-o-o
Eragon sat in his tent puzzling about the new Rider. This was all just so mind boggling.
Stop fretting little one. It'll be better with another Rider on our side. Saphira assured him but her mind was conflicted as well. Briam was an interesting character and Raeliesha seemed to be as well, but both dragon and Rider seemed very independent, which made her worry slightly.
"Raeliesha." He murmured aloud, "That isn't elven, is it?"
Saphira thought for a moment, I don't believe so. But Arya called her Raela. That's very elven.
Eragon went silent for a moment, just thinking. "Hmmm..." He finally murmured coming to a realization.
What? Saphira asked curiously.
"I'm wondering if the reason Arya calls her that is to make her feel more at home among the elves." Eragon explained, "But Raeliesha. Where does that come from?"
It is foreign to me. It seems before the time of the dragons altogether but I do not know how that is possible. Saphira responded, sounding just as confused.
"And her accent." Eragon continued, "Have you ever heard anything like it?"
No. I daresay it is unique to her.
"I want to go find her. I have a few more questions." Eragon muttered, severely wishing he had had more time with her, that Nasuada had come just a quarter of an hour later.
I do not know if that we should intrude upon her at this moment. Saphira warned.
"Do you know where this cave is?" Eragon inquired curiously, shrugging off her objection.
Saphira chuckled, I believe everyone in camp does.
"What?" He asked perplexed, diving out of the tent almost head first. He watched people walking around, obviously pretending to do something while sneaking glances over his head. He whirled around to see a flickering light inside of a cave in the closest mountain on the edge of the forest. He could've kicked himself.
"Saphira, would you take me up there?" He called back distractedly.
Against my better judgment, I suppose so. She conceded with a soft snort.
Be quiet Saphira, we don't want to scare her. Eragon told her as she made to land. They had just seen Briam go soaring into the cave, a bucket of water in his claws. Saphira, with her perfect sight, had told Eragon that you had to turn once you got in the cave so that if they landed on the ledge they wouldn't be seen unless they turned the corner. He had asked her why he needed to know that but she pretended like she didn't hear him.
Don't treat me like I'm a hatchling. Saphira snapped. She wasn't happy about any of this and she had made that severely clear on the short ride to the mountain. Arya had watched them leave shaking her head and when Saphira had pointed this out he had completely disregarded it, which only infuriated her more. She alighted softly on the tips of her claws making sure to jostle Eragon roughly. He tumbled off of her back and landed with a slight thump. Raeliesha's voice stopped for a moment, but he was relieved when he heard her foreign accent start up again.
"Thanks for the water." She thanked her dragon listlessly. He heard the pot jangle as she positioned it over the fire and a loud plop as she dropped something into it. Some type of vegetable he assumed.
You said you would tell me. Briam reminded in a low undertone.
"I suppose I did." She sighed softly. Everything went silent and Eragon stopped inching forward. Saphira had planted herself on the ledge, it went unsaid that she wasn't coming.
He heard Briam's claws digging into the ground impatiently before he finally demanded, How do we know Arya!
Briam had come back quicker than she would've like but her word was her word, so she sighed and began the tale, "Before my mother and I were captured and put into service for Galbatorix I knew Arya. We lived in Ellesmera and I remember always waiting for Arya to come back from wherever she went when she wasn't there." Her voice was quiet and sad, "She was the only one that accepted me as a child, I was just so different. Sure, I looked like the perfect little elf, but my personality contradicted my appearance. Arya didn't seem to mind. I'd catch up to her, wherever she was, and I'd ask her to tell me tales all the time. I'm pretty sure she got tired of it after the repeated occurrences, but she never turned me away. I think she understood that I wasn't exactly treated kindly so she tolerated me. And that was a first, so I became kind of attached to her for the time being." She shrugged and stirred the stew she was making before continuing, "It was then that Arya left and didn't come back for almost a year. I became seriously depressed and even more of an introvert than I ever was. My mother felt it was time that I saw a bit more of the world; I think she felt it would help, so she decided to take me on a trip. I was seven and a half then. It was a mistake. Galbatorix caught us and put us in his service. At the time his desperation to know where Ellesmera was wasn't at its peak but I soon realized he was trying to butter us up, giving us work and paying us decently while keeping us hostage as he tried to figure out the location of Ellesmera. Now and then he'd bring up where we had come from and my mother and I would clam up completely. We weren't going to tell him where we had come from, we knew his intent. I found your egg when I was nine and it hatched two days later, one day after I had turned ten, but you knew that. This you won't remember though." She looked up at his evergreen colored eyes and set down the wooden spoon she'd been stirring with, "We wandered for days after my mother magicked us out of that castle. I told you that some random elf assisted us back to Ellesmera." She gained a guilty look on her face as she averted her gaze, "It was Arya. She found us and brought us back to Ellesmera."
Her words rang in Eragon's ears. So she hadn't mentioned everything. But how, if she had been taken back by Arya, had Briam been concealed? His hand slipped from its place on the wall, dislodging a stone pebble. Raeliesha's head snapped up immediately, gazing right where he was around the corner. He felt her presence in his mind and she delved in to find out who he was and what he had heard.
"Eragon." She called softly. He liked how she said his name, it was so compelling. He stepped forward, "I'm sorry. I came to find you and heard you talking. I didn't want to interrupt..." He dwindled off.
She shrugged and went back to her stew, "Hungry?" She asked holding up a bowl. It was then that he realized that he was starving, he hadn't eaten anything since before the battle. "I know you are, so don't lie." She grinned. He smiled and sat down across from her.
I don't see why you are forgiving this...interloper...so easily. He was listening in on a conversation he had no right to hear. Briam sniffed, fire swirling out of his nose.
"Quit it with the fire Briam. I mean it." Raeliesha warned, "One day you're going to fry somebody."
I apologize, Raeliesha. I tried to tell him not to intrude. Saphira gave Eragon a chiding look as she came ambling in.
"It is quite alright. You have a duty to your Rider just as he has one to you." She murmured, handing him a spoon. "And he apologized." She shrugged, taking a bite.
They ate silently for a few minutes, Eragon feeling embarrassed that he hadn't made his presence known earlier. He muttered a few ancient words almost silently to check for poison which made Raeliesha laugh, but she didn't say anything. His blush deepened. How had she known!
"You're mental barrier is very weak." She informed him with a smirk. "And it is natural for me to constantly scan everything around me. Granted, there aren't many people around usually..." They were all silent for a moment until she looked up and offered, "I could help you with that, ya know."
"You'd do that?" Eragon asked her, almost speechless.
"Sure." She shrugged. She paused for a moment before asking, "Could you do something for me? I will help you regardless of your response." She added.
"Of course." He agreed immediately, shocked at her readiness to help.
She looked almost embarrassed for a moment before asking in a small voice, "Could you help me with my aim?"
He almost laughed. He had thought she was joking! "Sure." He managed to spit out, trying to contain his laughter.
"Yeah, cuz I laughed at you and your weak mental barrier." She muttered, mock hurt.
"I'm sorry-" He started.
"You thought I was joking, I know." Her full red lips smiled at him nicely and her peculiarly mysterious violet eyes caught his and at that moment he was mesmerized.
"So just exactly how bad is your aim?" Eragon asked curiously, shaking himself to knock himself out of the trance. Briam let out a snorting howl that sounded like he was laughing as Raeliesha blushed, "I couldn't hit a dragon's backside with a log from two feet away."
Now Eragon really couldn't help it, "And I thought that was a target that was nigh impossible to miss." He laughed.
Hey! Both dragons chorused indignantly.
"Yeah, well, that's probably a good assessment of how bad I am." She mumbled.
Eragon grinned, "That's no worse than my ability to shield my mind."
She smiled appreciatively. "Now that that is settled, you came up here for a reason, would you like to inform me of such?"
Eragon thought about that. There really wasn't a specific reason beyond curiosity. "I just wished to talk. We were interrupted and didn't have much time to become acquainted or learn much about one another."
"Which is the key to us working together." She nodded. She took another bite and admitted, "I would like to know a bit more about the state of The Varden."
"Now that's something I can answer." He grinned. It seemed she was getting more comfortable as the minutes passed, she had finally asked him a question! It was a miracle! So he went on to tell her about the army and how The Varden was hidden in one of the gigantic mountains -he didn't tell her where on second thought but he felt that he should've- he told her about Nasuada and the recent rulings, about King Orrin and King Hrothgar. There was much to tell and she sat there listening to his every word intently, her violet eyes focused on him alone. He even got into Murtagh and Roran and his Uncle Garrow. He didn't know why but he felt particularly comfortable with talking to her about all of this. She was just one of those people that you could just dump on when everything was just a lot. And she was a good listener, she nodded and made soft affirmatives and even asked some random rather rhetorical questions. He continued on for the longest time, just ticking everything off he could think of, about Brom and the Ra'zac and Queen Islanzadi and Ajihad and Glaedr and Oromis and it seemed his whole life accompanied most of his explanation just because one thing led to another which led to another which made this connection which reminded him of this experience. He talked for what felt like hours, Raeliesha soon began budding in with her own similar experiences and some new ones. They went back and forth, almost like a match of who's-gone-through-the-most-bull-as-a-Rider. Needless to say, Raeliesha won more often than not. But Eragon beat her the last time around because she had never battled another Rider. They looked up with confused expressions as they suddenly noticed that there was sunlight streaming through the cave and that Briam and Saphira were both snoring lightly on the cavern floor.
Raeliesha just tilted her head back and laughed. It was absolutely infectious and the whole situation was rather hilarious. They had sat up all night talking. They hadn't even realized how late it had become. Or early, if you want to get technical.
When their laughter subsided Raeliesha commented, "I suppose we had both better get some rest."
"I agree." Eragon nodded, his voice hoarse from all of the talking. Her voice was still crystal clear though. He still didn't understand all that had occurred to him during Agaeti Blodhren, he almost thought he never would, but he had certain elf like qualities intermingled with his human qualities. It almost made his head spin, but then he thought of how she must feel being a ...what did she call herself?...oh, a Halfie. That was the term she had used. He had no idea how it felt being her. Knowing that he didn't fit in anywhere-
Eragon. Saphira interrupted his train of thought, she had apparently woken only moments before, I believe that was our cue to leave. She informed him slyly.
"Oh, yes, sorry." He murmured still thinking as he stood up. He wobbled slightly, his legs cramped up from sitting for so long. She stood up gracefully and extinguished the fire whispering simply, "Aderna." water pulled itself out of the stones around them and poured over the fire. Apparently she had the elven strength in magic, if not the personality of one.
She looked up to still see him standing there and she smiled, "If you wish to stay, you may. I know the moment you get down there you are going to be bombarded with tons of questions, and then strategies, and you still haven't rested as of yet." As she spoke she casually sat down and leaned on Briam, who opened a single green eye to gaze at her before shutting it contently, "I myself am exhausted. You must feel even worse. It is up to you." with that she crossed her legs and pulled a hat out of her pack, settling it on her head with a wink before pulling it over her eyes.
Eragon looked at Saphira who stretched and settled on the cave floor, I could use with another nap. He shrugged and copied Raeliesha, entering the dream-like trance he was only as of recently becoming use to.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Arya looked up at the cave concerned. Eragon had gone up to speak with Raela the night before and was no where to be found upon the sun rising the next day. She didn't like the looks of things. Had something happened to him upon his return to camp? Her movements became swifter as she headed toward the cave with a newfound vigor. She hoped nothing had happened to him.
She made it to the cave in record time. She had been able to follow a pretty wide ledge most of the way up, but after that she had had to climb part of the way which had taken longer, freeing her mind to come up with all of the worst scenarios that could have occurred. When she finally pulled herself up and walked into the cave she sighed with immense relief. There he was. Perfectly fine. Asleep. And there was Raela. Resting. She turned around to look at the camp from such a high perspective. It was bustling and alive, even in this early hour. The battle field was covered in blood and she shivered involuntarily. It was a great feat that they had won, the odds were bad, but they had managed. The Varden would get great recognition for such blatant rebellion, which is just what they needed.
"Arya, may I inquire as to what you are doing up here?" A soft voice asked from behind her.
"Raela." Arya acknowledged as the young girl came up next to her. "Eragon's disappearance worried a few."
Raela laughed softly, "Your Rider is fine, if over weary. His change makes everything the better."
Arya stared off into the rising sun uncertainly, "That is what everyone is telling me."
