Hello again! Sorry it's been so long, there's this annoying think called Real Life and School, and I just haven't been able to even get near the computer. However, I have finally broken through the... well, I finally got online and though I'd update. Thanks all for the awesome reviews.

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

This chapter is dedicated to Miranda. Well, technically this entire thing is, along with Cassidy and Jules, but this chappy in particular is Miranda's. Great job at the game last night!!!

Eragon stared wide-eyed and open mouthed in shock. Then his mouth snapped shut and he crossed his arms. His eyes narrowed.

"Go wake Cassidy," he ordered coldly. Miranda was taken aback by his change in attitude. When she hesitated, he snapped, "Now!" Miranda hurried to do as ordered. As she hurried to Cassidy she saw Eragon wake Murtagh and whisper intently in his ear.

"Cassidy, get up."

"Go away," she muttered.

"It's important, Eragon wants to talk to us. And…"

"And what?" she mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She froze when she saw the hatchling. Miranda smiled at her amazed expression.

"I'm a Rider. Now come on, Eragon wants us, and he's in a really bad mood." The two girls joined the boys by the fire. Eragon stood up when the sat and started pacing. Then he rounded on the girls.

"Out with it," he ordered.

"With what?" Cassidy asked, puzzled.

"You! What happened to you. Why you're here. How do three little girls manage to find us in the middle of nowhere, knowing our names, our pasts, how to find us. You knew Brom was dying. You know the elf girl Ariana, though you call her Ari. And now you," he turned to Miranda, "have a silvery-blue dragon, but we all know the last two eggs are in the King's possession and are red and green. We want answers. Now.

Miranda turned to Cassidy and raised an eyebrow (A/N I've always wished I could do that). Cassidy nodded in return. Miranda shrugged. Cassidy raised both her eyebrows and Miranda once more shrugged and nodded. The boys watch the interplay with a slightly amused air.

"First of all, we're not little girls. Second of all… Alright, but first I want you both to swear in the Ancient Language that you will never tell anyone what we are about to tell you with out our permission, nor let anyone know you have this information." Miranda finally said. "Do you swear?" Still looking skeptical, Eragon gave his word. Murtagh hesitated. Miranda looked at him. I know, she said silently. I'm sorry I have to ask this of you. It's the only way. Murtagh nodded. Then, solemnly, he gave his word.

"Thank you, both of you. You should know, we aren't from Alagaësia. We come from a planet called Earth. We got here by following Ari's directions-" Cassidy cut her off.

"She's one of our friends from that world, that's how we know her."

"Yeah, anyways. She told us to go to this place find two trees, and say Eka aí fricai abr Ariana Dröttningu." The story continued from there. The boys listened as they explained how Durza had kidnapped Ari, how they had been given the eggs, and the swords. The girls purposefully left out the information about the books; no one else needed to know the future before it happened. Two people were bad enough.

"And then we met you two," Cassidy finished, smiling at the incredulous look on Eragon's face.

"And so now we have two Riders to fight Galbatorix. That is, if you'll teach me?" Miranda asked Eragon. He nodded, still amazed. "I'll take watch," she offered, feeling that Eragon was in no condition to do so. He just nodded and walked off.

"Well, I'm going back to bed too. Night," Cassidy disappeared, leaving Miranda alone with Murtagh. They just looked at each other for a moment. Then Murtagh stood, and Miranda did too. She turned to leave, but Murtagh held her back.

"I will never tell the false King your secrets. Eka weohnata néiat. Vel eïnradhin iet ai fricai."

Miranda couldn't speak for a moment. She knew what those words meant. She understood what Murtagh was swearing to. Then she hugged him impulsively. "Thank you." Murtagh just nodded and left.

Miranda turned back to the hatchling, who had watched the proceedings rather calmly, but Miranda could feel the youngling's hunger. "I'll feed you. And you need a name. Although, it might help if I knew if you were a girl or a guy."

Miranda, the dragon said.

"That's my name, you can't have it."

Miranda.

"So are you a girl? If not you might end up with a name like Rosie-Posie Danderfluff, although you're a guy and need a name like…Sheepbiter."

Miranda.

"Would you stop repeating my name? A simple nod will do. Are you a boy?" The hatchling didn't move. "A girl?" It bobbed its head, which Miranda took for a nod.

"A girl… hmm… You like Ice? No, that's too obvious. Umm… what about Freeze? No, that sounds stupid. Ugh, why does this have to be so difficult? Do you have any ideas?" Miranda turned to the hatchling.

Miranda, she said again, obviously amused.

"No! My name! Oh, I know. What about Thaw?" She inquired. The dragon seemed to think about that for a moment, then nodded.

Thaw and Miranda, she said. Then Thaw curled up in Miranda's lap and fell asleep. That was how she spent her watch. Then, when she climbed into her bedroll, Thaw snuggled next to her. The last thing Miranda saw as she fell asleep was Thaw's icy-blue head resting next to her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Miranda was woken in the morning by an uncomfortable pressure on her stomach. She opened her eyes, coming face to face with her hungry dragon hatchling.

"Go get Saphira," she mumbled. "She'll feed you." She tried to push Thaw off her, but the hatchling clung tighter. Miranda gave up.

"Fine, come on. I'll get you something." She rummaged around her bag and found a strip of jerky, which Thaw gulped up. Leaving her to her feast, Miranda woke the others. They ate breakfast in the saddle, not wanting to waste any time.

"We won't be able to stop again," Eragon noted. "We have to get Arya to the Varden by tomorrow." Murtagh grunted in reply. "Miranda, come over here. I know technically Riders are supposed to learn about magic on their own but… well seeing as you already know about it, you should know how to use it. I hope you learned the other stuff from your mysterious sources, because there's no time to teach it all. Saphira will teach your dragon whatever dragon things need to be taught."

"Her name is Thaw."

"Sorry."

"That's ok. So what are we gonna do?"

"You're going to lift this stone. You're going to raise it to eye height, then keep it there as long as possible." He produced a stone from his pocket. You know the word?"

"Yeah. Risia. Alright, here it goes." Miranda concentrated on the stone on her palm as she searched through her mind for the nub of magic. Once located, she muttered, "Risia." It was a lot like when she had tried to light a fire in Sylivia, except this time it actually worked. Wobbling slightly, the stone rose into the air.

"Good job. Now keep it there as long as you can." Miranda managed to keep the stone floating until Rinya jumped over a log and she lost concentration.

"That was good," Eragon encouraged. "I couldn't keep it up nearly that long when I first tried. Now…" He had her do all sorts of things. First it was just moving the stone around. As the day progressed and she got better at controlling it, Eragon showed her how to heal cuts and other flesh wounds, make a fire, other small things. Meanwhile, Saphira and Thaw talked about who knows what." By the time they sun set Miranda could cast a number of spells and Thaw could speak.

"You did wonderfully, both of you, especially considering the conditions. We can rest here for a few hours, then continue. Saphira, will you take watch?" Eragon asked his dragon. She nodded, and the four people and Thaw laid down to rest, not even bothering to undo their bedrolls.

Saphira woke Eragon a few hours later and they were in the saddle again. Eragon quizzed Miranda on what she had learned scant hours ago. The lessons were abruptly cut short, however, when Saphira called down that the Kull chasing them had just vanished into the forest, but the head of the valley wasn't far off. They dismounted and ran, trying not to kill the already tired horses.

"Is there no way out of this valley?" Murtagh asked, panting.

"Well, Saphira may have missed one in the dark but, no."

Murtagh swore and stopped. "I told you, I don't want to go to the Varden!"

Eragon turned around impatiently to Murtagh. "Why not? It's going to be hard enough to get them to accept us without knowing the problem."

"I-" Murtagh paused. "You have a right to know. I am the son of Morzan, first and last of the Foresworn."

"Morzan! You could be a spy! An assassin!"

Murtagh pulled off his tunic and spun around, showing them the scar along his back. "This is the only thing I got from my father," he said, "when he threw his sword at me while drunk."

"But-" Eragon tried to argue. Miranda cut him off.

"Stuff it, both of you. Eragon, he could have killed you ages ago if he'd wanted to. Murtagh, put your shirt back on. You two can argue later. Right now, we're running away from an army of Kull, remember?" Without waiting for an answer, she and Cassidy took off running, leaving the two boys to wonder how the two managed to be so… in charge.

"Cassidy," Miranda panted, "what's today?"

"I dunno. Why?"

Miranda didn't answer for a moment. She was counting something on her fingers. Then she looked up and smiled. "We're fifteen!"

"Wha- Oh, yeah! Awesome!" They grinned widely at each other, like idiots, waiting for the boys to catch up.

The forest ended suddenly and a pebbly beach led down to the lake with a large waterfall.

"Is this it?" Cassidy asked. Eragon nodded.

They were halfway around when the urgals came streaming out of the trees. They split up around the lake, half following them and the others going around the other side. Saphira let out a roar and dived at the Kull, blocking their progress on the side of the lake Eragon and company was on. Thaw, sitting on Rinya's saddle, echoed with a baby dragon roar, which was actually rather cute. The four of them picked up their pace, going as fast as their tired legs would allow, careful not to fall on the slippery pebbles. When they finally made it to the waterfall, Eragon grabbed a rock and yelled at it. Nothing happened.

"We're on the wrong side!" Miranda yelled above the roar of rushing water. "We need to be on the other side! We'll have to go under!"

Eragon nodded and said something to the horses, who dashed under the spray. Then Murtagh and Eragon jumped in, immediately getting pushed down by the force of the water, and thus nearly drowning.

"Idiots," Miranda muttered, grabbing Cassidy and following the horses. As soon as they were under, short people bearing swords surrounded them. Eragon was likewise surrounded and Murtagh had a sword at his throat. Saphira was gazing around the entry with Thaw perched on her head. The horses were clustered together further in. Behind them the mountain close, leaving nothing but a bare wall once more.

And, there you go! Another chapter down. Please review, pretty please?