I was bored, so I wrote this in English class today. You know what sucks? I got the desired 5 reviews, but . . . the last one came way before I was ready to post.

Silver sliver: I know what's going on, I found the book. Don't worry, Arya comes in soon.

Bananasrokk: yes, coffee is da bomb!

Fairy000Eclipse: thank you

Luveroffanfic: ooh, good idea. I have the perfect one . . .

Andrien: you do that.

To my other reviewers: Me: thank you. Draye: How very astute. (a/n: the reviewer 'me' is not myself. It is a reviewer who identified themselves as 'Me!') Hi: I don't think I can email you. And why are so many people named short, two-letter expressions and names?

Chapter Eight: A Musical Desert

After two straight days of riding, during which Eragon finally used his brains and discovered how to get water in the desert, they reached the Ramr River.

Saphira offered to take everyone across. Murtagh volunteered to go first, to calm the horses. After him went Tornac, then Saturnina's horse, Eris. Then Hilaria's horse, Persephone. Then Eragon looked at Saturnina.

"Your turn."

"Duh." She climbed on Saphira, who took off. Saturnina let out a yell of surprise, and then started singing at the top of her lungs:

"I believe I can fly,

I believe I can touch the sky,

I think about it every night and day,

Spread my wings and fly away."

Saphira turned her head to look at the girl. You don't have wings, I do. Saturnina thought about this, then shrugged and continued singing.

I believe I can soar,

I see me running through that open door,

I believe I can fly,

I believe I can fly,

I believe I can fly . . ."

When she landed, she sat down next to Murtagh and the horses. He turned to her.

"You actually have quite a nice singing voice."

"Why, thank you."

"BACK OFF, SATURNINA! YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!" yelled Hilaria, having just landed. Saturnina raised an eyebrow. "And you can?"

Hilaria shot her a withering glare. "Shut up, Grace."

"Hey!"

"Anyway, aren't you supposed to be obsessed with Eragon?"

"What?" said Eragon, who had just arrived. "What's going on?"

"Now see what you've done!" hissed Saturnina. Eragon was still confused. "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"

"NO!" they yelled. Eragon tuned to Murtagh. "Will you tell me what's going on?"

"I would if I could, but I don't really know. My advice is to let it go."

Saturnina cleared her throat. Eragon and Murtagh looked at her. Both she and Hilaria were on their horses, and were looking at the guys expectantly. "Are you coming or not?" demanded Saturnina. The boys shook their heads and mounted their horses.

Then they reached the Hadarac Desert. The boys were so tired they could barely move, while the girls were bursting with energy.

Saphira was ecstatic. I feel as though I was made for this desert. It has the space I need, mountains where I could roost, and camouflaged prey that I could spend days hunting. And the warmth! Cold does not disturb me, but this heat makes me feel alive and full of energy.

"Glad someone's happy," muttered Saturnina. She was bored. Then out of nowhere, she gave a shriek of delight. "Look!"

Hilaria came over. "What?"

"My iPod! I found it! I thought I lost it but I found it!"

Murtagh was annoyed. "What is this iPod that you speak of?"

"It's a thing you listen to music on. Here, listen to it." She browsed through her library, looking for an appropriate song, and Hilaria whispered in her ear. She listened and grinned evilly.

She stuck one earphone in Murtagh's ear and one in Eragon's. Then she pressed play. The boys found themselves listening to . . .

"Gold Digger" by Kanye West! Dun dun duuuunnnnnnnn! They sat with the expressions of horror on their faces growing more prominent with every verse. "You actually like this song!" Eragon was appalled. Saturnina and Hilaria cracked up.

"Wait, there's more." Hilaria grabbed the iPod, and put on another song. It was . . .

"Beep" by the Pussycat Dolls! Dun dun duuuunnnnnnnn! Eragon thrust the iPod into Saturnina's hands and went to sleep. Murtagh followed suit.

After around four hours, they got up and began riding again. At sunset they stopped; all of them were sunburned. Eragon drew water from the ground and they all had a drink.

When they got up the next day, it was freezing. Like, seriously freezing. Freeze-your-butt-off freezing. Eragon was not in a good mood. Murtagh was in a worse one. Saturnina was just happy that it wasn't hot out. Hilaria loved cold. She was happy.

At noon, Saturnina was the first one to spot the Beor Mountains. "Look!" The boys had no idea what they were looking at. Hilaria rode off singing towards the mountains.

"Dancing through life
skimming the surface
gliding where turf is smooth
Life's more painless
for the brainless
Why think too hard?"

That evening, they left the desert for a bunch of dirt and grass. Oh well, its better than sand.

Eragon was amazed that he was out of the Empire. The girls and Murtagh gave no opinion. Out of nowhere, Eragon walked over to the elf and sat down. He was still for a moment, and then cringed. After another minute, he was still again.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, he took a breath and opened his eyes. "Well?" demanded Saturnina. "Who is she?"

"Her name is Arya, and I've been talking to her." Eragon told them all about his conversation with Arya. Murtagh was fuming. "We have to get to the Varden in three days?"

Then Murtagh and Eragon started a fist fight. When Eragon kicked the fire and an ember landed on Saturnina, she looked at Saphira and shouted, "Do something!"

Saphira whacked the ground with her tail, and when that didn't stop them, she trapped Eragon and Murtagh with her claws. After a few seconds of silent communication with Saphira, Eragon turned to Murtagh.

"She wants us to talk about our feelings." Saphira growled to confirm this.

Saturnina raised an eyebrow. "What are you, a psychologist?"

I hope to get to the Varden in this chapter or the next, but you never know.

My muse had a nice vacation in the Bahamas, and is now ready to start inspiring me.

There's quite a lot of spontaneous singing in the chapter, isn't there? I do not own R Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" or "Dancing through Life" from Wicked. Or "Gold Digger" by Kanye West and "Beep" by the Pussycat Dolls.

The iPod thing was the idea of Luveroffanfic.

I didn't describe the Arya scene very well, I know, but the book doesn't show how it looks from an outside perspective. So even though I have the book open in front of me as I type this, it really isn't helping.