Disclaimer: I do not own the characters created by Christopher Paolini.

A/N: Alright someone gave me two ideas that I could possibly use and I am going with the first one. Thanks to Future Aviator for the idea, I am continuing the next chapter right after chapter 9. Alright on with the story and a tender moment!!

Chapter 10

Darkness.....

Luna shook the leaves off of her and looked around for her rider. Her eyes widened when she didn't see him.

'Oh no!' Turning around, frantically, she searched with her mind for his presence. But instead she sensed Murtagh a few feet above them.

'Murtagh!'

'Who is this?'

'Luna. I am your sons' dragon. I can't find him and he is injured!'

'Where are you?' She sent him an image of her location. 'I'm on my way.' Within moments Thorn came swooping down through an opening in the trees and landed on the ground. Murtagh climbed off his back and looked around.

'What happened Luna?'

'We were shot at and Jayden was hit at least 5 times by the bullets. So I grabbed him and put him on my back. I was also shot at and we crashed through those trees.'

'I see.' Murtagh stood very still, with his eyes closed, and searched for Jayden with his mind. His eyes snapped open and he walked about 15 away from Luna. Moving away tons of leaves, he uncovered Jayden.

"Jayden..." Murtagh looked at the wounds, but mostly focused on the one in his abdomen. Luna came towards them, and made a whimpering sound. Murtagh turned to Thorn. "Thorn. Find, Eragon and Saphira. Get them here quickly." Thorn nodded and motioned for Luna to follow him. She relunctantly followed Thorn up into the air. Murtagh brushed aside some of Jayden's hair out of his eyes, which was sticky with blood. A tear went down Murtagh's cheek. 'I didn't want this life for you, Jayden.'

"Why are you crying?" Murtagh looked down at Jayden, who was staring up at him with a dazed look for some reason.

"Jayden, are you in pain?" Jayden narrowed his eyes, but not in anger.

"Wouldn't you be in pain too, if you were just shot at and then crashed into a tree on a dragon?"

"Yes, but I've never done that before. But I have been shot at." Jayden sighed and closed his eyes.

"You always try to enlighten the situation don't you?" Murtagh's eyes widened.

"Don't say that. This isn't a serious situation." Jayden sighed.

"I'm tired." Murtagh's eyes widened in panic.

"Jayden, you are not going to die! You are my son, and I love you too much to let you die!" Murtagh didn't wait for Jayden to reply. He placed his hand over one of the wounds and began healing him. When he was done, he picked Jayden up off the forest floor and held him in his arms. Thorn, Luna, Eragon, and Saphira then showed up. Luna heaved a sigh of relief, while Eragon came over by Murtagh.

"Is he okay?"

"He should be alright. I just don't know what he's going to do when he wakes up, Eragon. He never really liked it when I used to heal his little cuts. He liked it when he was younger, but when he hit a certain age, he didn't want anything to do with me then. We should get him back to Ellesmera." Eragon nodded and Murtagh climbed onto Thorn's back, still holding Jayden. Eragon knew as soon as they entered Ellesmera, Murtagh would lay Jayden down in a bed and not leave his side until he woke up.

~The next morning~

Murtagh was still sitting next to Jayden's bed, waiting for his son to wake up. Eragon came up behind him with some berries.

"Here. Eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Murtagh, I don't believe that. You haven't ate anything since yesterday when we went towards Palancar Valley to figure out why it was burning." Murtagh shrugged.

"I'm not eating until my son has something to eat." Eragon sighed.

"What are you going to do if he never wakes up?"

"Then I'll never eat." Eragon sighed again.

"Then I sure hope he wakes up." Katharina then came up the stairs towards them.

"Murtagh, there is a girl here to see Jayden."

"Who?" Katharina rolled her eyes.

"Murtagh you know who! Its the one girl who is actually interested in our son, but he just hasn't seen it yet." Eragon looked at Murtagh in confusion.

"Who?"

"Her name is Jasmyn. She is an elf. As far as I know, Jayden is the only half-elf here. Not that I care. He's unique." Katharina coughed.

"And thats exactly why Jasmyn is so interested in him and not the other elven boys. Its not everyday that a half-elf is born. Let alone between an elf and a DragonRider. But I'm letting her up." Murtagh motioned for Eragon to move and he did right as Jasmyn came up the stairs. She had long black hair and dark blue eyes. Eragon looked at Murtagh.

'How old is she?'

'Only 15 Eragon.' Jasmyn looked at Murtagh.

"He hasn't woken up has he?" She had a very soft and quiet voice. Murtagh shook his head.

"No he hasn't, and I'm not leaving this chair until he does." Jasmyn smiled.

"I'm sure he'll be happy to see his father really does care for him." Eragon knew she was the type of elf, that if she yelled or raised her voice, you had better listen to her.

"Why wouldn't I care about him?" Jasmyn looked at Murtagh in a serious way.

"Jayden is just confused. I just hope one day he will realize my feelings for him." Eragon looked at her sympathetically. He knew how she felt. Except the girl he likes has already turned him down.

"I'll send Thorn to you when he wakes up, okay Jasmyn?" Jasmyn nodded her head.

"I take you at your word, Murtagh." Jasmyn then left. Eragon looked at Murtagh.

"How could your son not realize that she loves him?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe your son has realized, he has just chosen not to acknowledge it." Both Eragon and Murtagh jumped when they heard Jayden's voice. They both looked at the bed to see Jayden facing them now.

"Jayden, this is a great opportunity for you."

"Yeah, well....I'm not ready to get a girlfriend yet."

"What when your sixteen then you'll think about it?"

"Maybe."

"She said you were just confused. What exactly are you confused about Jayden?" Jayden looked away from his father.

"That is none of your business."

"Jayden-" Jayden cut him off.

"Can I be alone now please?" Murtagh's shoulders sagged, but he nodded. Standing up, he walked out of the room, with Eragon right behind him. Jayden lowered his eyes once they were gone.

'Luna what happened after I went unconsious yesterday?'

'You mean when Murtagh healed you?'

'Yeah.'

'He never left your side. Your mother was trying to get him to eat last night, but he wouldn't budge from the chair. Eragon even tried. As did Thorn and Saphira. But he never moved.'

'And I just basically slapped him in the face.'

'You did what?!'

'Not literally, Luna.'

'What did you do?'

'I asked if I could be alone. Thats all.'

'What about the "That is none of your business" part that I so happened to hear?' Jayden sighed.

'He wanted to know why I am confused.'

'Why are you confused? Don't even tell me that it is none of my business because it is. And it is Murtagh's business, since he is your father.'

'I just don't understand why my life is going this way. Why Jasmyn, the girl of my dreams practically, is liking me. Everyone else picks on my, like I already told you.'

'Maybe they pick on you because Jasmyn likes you. Or maybe you have to prove yourself worthy of being half-elf. I've been talking to Saphira, who is my mom by the way, and she said Eragon had to prove himself to Vanir when he was going through his training here. Vanir kept calling him unworthy, until finally Eragon's back was healed, and he earned his worthyness by winning a sparring match. Murtagh also proved himself worthy by helping to defeat Galbatorix.'

'See thats the problem. My father is so famous, that there is nothing that I can do that will live up to his reputation.'

'Are you sure about that, Jayden?'

'What do you mean?'

'You are a DragonRider now. The way I see it you could always help them restore Alagaesia back to normal.'

'My father would never let me do that. Especially since I almost died yesterday.'

'Jayden, they aren't going to war against Alagaesia until Eragon has the Varden backing him up again. In the meantime, you can always become closer to your father and ask him to train you.'

'I guess your right.'

'You guess? Aren't I always right?'

'You weren't right about whether or not a blueberry is better than a strawberry. Remember that debate?'

'Don't remind me of that...' Jayden laughed and then sighed. He had a long day ahead of him, and it would start with apoligizing to his father. Climbing out of bed, Jayden went down the stairs, only to find that no one was inside the house. 'Bummer....I'll get something to eat, and then I'll search for him.' Grabbing some berries, and other exotic fruits, Jayden ate his breakfast. Sensing a presence behind him, Jayden turned around. Only to find himself being pressed up against a wall by Nicolae. A dagger was in his hand and was pressed against Jayden's throat.

"Glad to see your awake, Jayden." Nicolae muttered.

"What are you doing here, Nicolae?" Jayden demanded and sent out a silent plea to Luna.

'I'm coming Jayden.'

"I want you to stay away from Jasmyn."

"Meaning you want me to leave Ellesmera forever, right?"

"I guess you know more meanings then you let on. Jasmyn is mine."

"Does it look like I want her?" Thats when Luna landed in through the opening where the dragons come in from and growled at Nicolae.

"Wha?!" Jayden realized with a jolt that Luna had grown a couple of inches over the course of a day.

"Luna..." She stopped growling and looked at Jayden with loved.

"Your a DragonRider?!" Jayden looked at him. Nicolae had removed the dagger and was backed up in the furthest corner he could possibly get from Luna.

"Not everyone knows yet, but yes. I guess when it comes to dragons, they care if your half-elf." Nicolae then narrowed his eyes.

"She's nothing more than a baby, though Jayden. Saphira and Thorn are much bigger than she is. And can do much more damage. I am not scared of your dragon!" Nicolae then lunged towards Jayden with an angry cry. Jayden's eyes widened as suddenly he was pulled backwards and was going up.

"Luna?"

'Hang on! We are not going to crash this time!' With a grunt, Luna went down to the ground and landed perfectly on her hind legs. Then she placed Jayden on the ground and placed her front legs on the ground.

"That was so cool! Where'd you learn that from?" Luna glowed with pride.

'My mother taught me.'

"Lets go find my father. I wanted to apoligize to him."

'I'll stay here.'

"Why? I wanted you to come with me. After all, I shouldn't live in shame correct? Being a DragonRider shouldn't be a secret. It is an honor." Luna glowed with pride again.

'Does this mean you are no longer confused?'

'I am no longer confused Luna. I think we should get trained now, so you know how to fight and the same with me.'

'I agree.' Jayden and Luna walked towards Ellesmera, together. They were prepared for just about anything. And they would face it together. Like a true Dragon and Rider.

Alright review! Future Aviator's idea that I went with was that Murtagh reaches Jayden, tells him how much he loves him and does not want him to die, and then he heals him. And hopefully after that Jayden would be kind to Murtagh. Well after reading this chapter, do you guys think that is going to actually happen? The answer is yes. Jayden is going to be nicer to Murtagh, but the question is, for how long? Alright review!