Well! Here we all are, for yet ANOTHER chapter. This is getting quite repetitive, isn't it? So now we return to Hilaria, and yes, people, you got that right: every chapter flips back and forth between the two, unless I have a REALLY big cliffhanger on Hilaria's part, in which case I will tell Saturnina's story for two or three chapters. And vise-versa. Yes, I'm evil. Yes, I know.
alsdssg: evil little demon-seed, isnt she…
Azulcat: Barney is a law unto himself. Well of COURSE I'm gonna wait for the third book! You didn't think I was just going to finish Eldest and then write my own Book 3? Duh! Why would I do that?
bananasrokk: but…I like the beast of argh…RIP froggy
Coffee Grounds: well don't blow out your vocal cords or anything…
darkfiremermaid: ooh! Like that Spongebob episode where they go 'imagination…' and make a rainbow with their hands?
Diamondchild: Yay…a rhyme…
dragon of spirits: so glad we agree.
DragonfrosttipLady: w00t!
DragonRider2000: I must be going blind…I could've sworn I saw the words 'poor Barney' in your review…
Elevanya: No, it was fun. Mr. Lo set a bowl of gunpowder on fire, and then he exploded a Smartie in a test tube.
Irishgypsygirl: no, because I don't even want her to be a marshmallow.
Kitty and Amethyst: whatever you do, DON'T EAT IT.
SOPROL: clear your mind. It's like those credit card commercials where Ellen DeGeneres is meditating. They're kind of funny…
WeepingWillowleaf: hah! I laugh in the face of purple kitties!
CelticWater: oh great, a guilt-tripper. Thanks a lot.
Chapter Twenty-One: Mission Impossible: Hilaria
"What the…" Hilaria blinked. Murtagh was holding a broken eggshell and was waving it in her face.
"I got a dragon to hatch for me and YOU DIDN'T! Oh, WHAT NOW?"
She blinked again. "I think Saturnina was rubbing off on you, because I have never heard you talk like that. Ever."
"You're missing my point! My point is that I am now a Dragon Rider!"
"And your point?"
Murtagh started to punch her, but "Uh-uh, bad boy. I carry a total of 42 knives on me at all times."
"How do you manage that?"
"Well, let's see: two behind each of my shoulder blades, two tied behind my neck, three shoved into my shoes, five around my waist, four in my hair, one on both my wrists, six on my back, one under each of my armpits, three tiny ones behind my ears, two around my ankles, and six spread out in my pocket."
Murtagh blinked a couple of times.
"So anyway, what's its name?"
Murtagh shook his head a few times. "I named him Thorn."
"That's a dumb name, it really is. You should change it." Hilaria looked at him expectantly.
"Why should I? I like it, and so does he."
Hilaria just shook her head sadly a few times.
That night……………………………………………
She was dressed in full blackout gear: black paint on her face, black shirt or in this case sweater, black pants, black hat over her head.
Hilaria grabbed her backpack, stuffed with everything she would need, and peered around the door. She hurried down the hall, keeping close to the walls the whole time. Her iPod played the Mission: Impossible music.
Hilaria somersaulted to Murtagh's door, looking around furtively as she tested the doorknob.
Damn! It was locked. Hilaria growled; she would have to go in from above.
Fifteen minutes later found her scaling the wall outside Murtagh's room using a rope and a keyring attached to her belt. (Note: do not try this at home.)
She swung into his room and rolled over until she was hidden behind the door. Hilaria slowly approached the bed and, without further ado, opened her backpack. In it lay five tubes filled with a different colored something.
When she climbed down the wall again, she couldn't help but marvel at how deep of a sleeper Murtagh was.
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Hilaria peeked through the large window in the top tower of the castle. She had climbed the wall yet again to come outside of the large chamber that Shruikan slept in. Smiling evilly, she hoisted herself onto the windowsill. She looked around to see if anyone was watching her, and went in.
She dropped to the floor, took one look in front of her, and decided a security breach was necessary. Hilaria unclipped a flashlight from her belt.
Looking at the giant black dragon, Hilaria couldn't help but giggle a little, thinking of what she was going to do.
She opened her backpack.
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Hilaria awoke to the pounding of Murtagh's fist on her door. She groaned and shaded her eyes against the bright sunlight.
"Whaddaya want?" she called groggily.
"Open up, now!" shouted Murtagh.
Hilaria yawned and opened the door.
When she saw Murtagh, she couldn't help it, and soon she was rolling around on the floor laughing.
Murtagh's once-dark hair was now a kaleidoscope of purple, red, blue, green, and yellow.
"What did you do to my hair?" he thundered.
She rolled her eyes. "I dyed it, of course!"
"And just where did you get this so-called dye?"
"Funny you should ask. Well, in my school the principal got really sick of everyone dying their hair. So one day she pulled all of us out of honors math and told us to go through everybody's lockers and confiscate any hair dye we found. Hell, she gave us all copies of the master key. Unfortunately she made us give them back, but what can you do?"
"But…but it's so…vivid. How did that happen?"
"I had to hold a torch under it, for lack of hair dryers," Hilaria explained. "You know, when you're traveling, you wake up at a moment's notice, Murtagh. But when you can relax (which you cant, by the way: I could throw Galbatorix a lot farther than I can trust him, and I can only throw his two inches), you'll just keep snoring on even though I held a flame under your head."
Before Murtagh could complain any more, an earthshaking roar was heard at Hilaria's window.
Shruikan was hovering outside, calling for Hilaria's blood.
What did you do to me, you deceiving girl!
This time, both Hilaria and Murtagh were laughing. Because on the black dragon's wing were airbrushed a multitude of hearts, smiley faces, and rainbows, along with SHRUIKAN emblazoned along his spine.
"I airbrushed your wings, what do you think?" Hilaria shouted over the noise. "I messed up some of the hearts, but I think the overall effect is quite—" she was cut off as the dragon slashed his claws through the window.
Growling something about how Galbatorix was going to kill her, Shruikan flew off.
Murtagh stared at her. "How did you do that?" he gasped.
"I took a course in airbrushing. Now go; I must plan my next prank."
And the next prank really is crazy, I have it all planned out. Thank you to bananasrokk for the idea, I think it rocks!
And I'm going to Florida for the week, I'm not sure if my laptop will have any Internet, but I'll try.