A/N: Yay! Second chapter of my second fic! Thanks for all the reviews guys!

Lisa Fox: Sorry bouts the paragraph thing! Yea Mr. Paolini's characters will come in soon…beginning of the chapter.

City Pigeon: You no I worship you! You always review my fics, thankee sooo much! Yea…so now you no when my story takes place

Silverdragonargetlam: Sorry bouts the typos, thanks for the compliment XD !

Pikel: So you don't like the word chappy? I see how it is -sniffles- So in this chapter I tell you where Eragon, Arya, and Murtagh are and what the Varden are doing. So I don't say where the story is taking place because I'm not exactly sure if Galbatorix is in Urû'baen or not…I swear to god I went back in the book and looked but I just couldn't find it! oh, i read your Bartimaeus trilogy fic, REALLY good so far!

Anywho, this chapter has taken me a long time because I wasn't motivated enough to write anymore….ehehehehehe…..BUT I WROTE! Now I've gotta write for my other fic…ho hum

p.s. the star asterics don't work so they have been replaced by italics, k?

ON WITH THE STORY!

Murtagh reclined on his bed; he was exhausted after the battle at Tronjheim. They didn't trust him at first, and now that Ajihad was gone, there was no way that he would be able to go with Eragon and Arya to Ellesméra. Who would the Varden choose as a new leader? Some thought Eragon would be the best choice, but he couldn't he had to complete his training with the elves. Of course they wouldn't trust Murtagh enough to do it, not in a million years. Nasuada seemed most likely to be elected, but some of the men did not think she was the best candidate. They said that a woman could not be the leader of the Varden, that she was not "strong enough". All of them knew that was a lie, Nasuada may not have biceps the size of theirs, but she could use elementary magic and was skilled with a blade, and mentally she was as strong as or stronger than her father. Murtagh knew that if she were opted as the new leader he would be able to go to Ellesméra, so he was praying she would be. Murtagh didn't know her all that well, they had only talked a few times, but she wasn't the stereotypical type. He sighed and closed his eyes, but before he could drift off to sleep, someone opened his door and strode in; it was Eragon.

"Oy." He said weakly and perched on the edge of Murtagh's bed. Murtagh opened his eyes and looked his friend over. His hair was disheveled and hanging in his eyes making it look like he just woke up; then again his hair always hung in his eyes.

"How's your back?" Murtagh asked, Eragon shrugged then winced.

"It hurts a lot mainly if I move. Angela couldn't heal it completely, so I'm always going to have a big ugly scar." Murtagh raised his eyebrows at the comment.

"I suppose you want to see it?"

"Well I am curious."

"Fine…" Eragon said, and turned so his back was towards Murtagh. He carefully lifted the back of his shirt until the scar was visible, Murtagh let out a low, long whistle at the sight of it.

"That is huge." Eragon dropped it, and faced him again.

"Yes, well the real reason I came here was about the Varden-." He stopped and turned towards the door, "Saphira says Nasuada is approaching." Sure enough, the tall, dark-haired woman strode in looking frenzied.

"It's gone! Someone has stolen one of Galbatorix's eggs!"

Riku hung her head outside the window, it should have been getting light by now, but the sky was a dreary gray with large rain clouds. She sighed; Nathaniel had snuck out a few minutes ago to eat, leaving Riku all alone. She didn't feel like going downstairs to see everyone, all they would do was question her, and she could not take that. Raindrops started to fall, and Riku pulled herself onto the roof, she could get a little wet. She stretched out and closed her eyes; the rain was pounding down on her face and body, relaxing her and letting everything else slip away.

Nathaniel walked back into Riku's room, expecting her to till be sleeping peacefully, but there was no Riku. He looked around her room and saw an open window.

Aha. He thought, She's on the roof. Nathaniel poked his head out and looked around, he couldn't see Riku, but he caught a whiff of her familiar scent. He pulled himself up, and caught sight of her lying on the roof, eyes closed and humming a small tune. Her hair was drenched and strewn around her head, forming a black halo. Nathaniel stood for a minute and just stared at her, rain always had a certain effect on Riku, she was always happier and more beautiful in it. He walked over to her, and laid down next to her without making a sound.

"Hello Riku." He said quietly, she jumped up and let out a little shriek.

"Oh, it's just you."

"Who else?"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Riku accused, and resumed lying down next to him; Nathaniel turned on his side and faced her.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Riku sighed, and glanced at Nathaniel. She remembered when they were all so little, not a care in the world, just content with a small puddle to play in. Now they had all grown up, she barley recognized him, his hair was longer, his eyes had changed color a little, they never had red in them before. He had also grown taller and was now rippled with muscles, his face had changed too, his jaw line was more prominent, and he was good looking too, in a strange sort of way. He was as striking as Dominic, but was pretty close. There were also his eyes, besides the color something else had changed; she wasn't sure what but it made Riku uncomfortable.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, I was just thinking of how much you've changed."

"Is it a good change or a bad change?"

"I'm not sure, both I guess." He raised an eyebrow, copying Dominic's favorite expression.

"I suppose we've all changed."

"Suppose we have…" She mumbled and looked into the sky with a small smile.

"You always did like rain, even when you were so sad it made you happy. Dominic and I always thought it was strange, we never really understood you."

"Well the real reason I was always happy was because I was there with my two best friends."((A/N: Gaaah fluff!))Riku said, and then moved her head onto his arm like a puppy would, he stiffened and brushed her off.

"Now what would someone think if they saw us in that compromising position?" He joked

"Compromising position? We'll let the fools think what ever they want." But Riku didn't put her head back; instead she stood up and paced the roof.

"I want to move the ambush up, we need to do it sooner." He shook his head.

"Patience is everything, they will be expecting something."

"No, they will not." She said firmly, "They will think that we're going to wait, and we aren't. We're going tomorrow."

"Well you can do what ever you want, but I'm cold so I'm going to go inside." Riku smiled and nodded.

"Alright, see you later then." He waved goodbye then slipped off onto the window ledge. "If you're going tomorrow, get some sleep."

"Well I already got sleep didn't I?"

"You need more than an hour or two."

"No I don't." He rolled his eyes at her answer and stepped into the room. Riku laid back down and closed her eyes. She needed to talk to all the children's parents, they would worry unless she didn't, but Nathaniel and Dominic would insist on coming. Riku sighed and crawled over to the edge of the roof, it wasn't that far to the bottom. Without waiting any longer, she stepped off the roof and hit the muddy ground hard. Just then Dominic stuck his head out of her window, and frowned down at her.

"What are you doing?"

"I uh…fell."

"Right. You never fall." Then he followed her down and landed next to Riku.

"Go back inside."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I told you I fell." It was half the truth; she hadn't expected to be sitting on the ground when she jumped.

"You're going into town aren't you?"

"Nooooo…" She started, and looked away from him.

"I'm going with you."

"No, because I'm not going." He rolled his eyes and started walking away; she followed him, spraying mud everywhere. "Dominic!" He turned swiftly on his heel, making Riku bump into his shoulder.

"What!"

"Where are you going."

"Into town." Riku let out a frustrated sigh and crossed her arms at his answer, he gave her a sarcastic smile.

"Fine. I'm going too."

"I never said you couldn't." She pouted and followed him, growing calmer on the way. "So, what were you and Nathaniel doing on the roof?" He asked cleverly, and she smiled slightly.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He stopped and turned suddenly, making Riku run into his shoulder again. "Stop doing that!" She cried.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Stop turning around like that!"

"No, what you said before."

"What? Are you jealous?" Dominic snorted and turned.

"What's there to be jealous of?" He had got her there.

"Er-." She started, and then sprinted away, Dominic rolled his eyes again then followed suit. Dominic was gaining on Riku, soon he was neck and neck with her, she grinned and put on a burst of speed, he may be really fast, but she had more stamina than him. They slowed down once the town came into sight, and began to jog. Riku Dominic slipped into the shadows of a shop, and slunk to an alley. Riku followed him, and in flashes of lightning she could see the castle in the distance.

"Dominic, we could go now- just slink around to the servant's gate." She whispered and he shook his head.

"No, we need more people."

"What if we just go in and check it out? We could steal servant's clothes." She could tell he was tempted.

"Well, we'll just go in and check the security." He said somewhat reluctantly, Riku nodded.

"Agreed. Let's go." She flitted through the shadows and approached the castle, Dominic behind her all the way. She sprinted around the side of the castle, to the servant's door. She stopped before the gate- it was open. Smiling, Riku was about to walk in but Dominic grabbed her hand and pointed to the ground; there was thin wire which she followed with her eyes. It connected to a line of cross bows, if she walked through it, the bows would go off and send arrows hailing down on her. Riku jerked her hand out of his grasp and walked cautiously to the door. Two guards were stationed outside of it, but they were talking animatedly to each other, not paying any attention. Dominic had seen them to, and tossed two daggers, one hit the guard squarely in the chest; the second dagger missed the other guard's chest and imbedded itself in his shoulder. Before he could make a sound, Riku was upon him, she clasped his cheeks in her hands and twisted right- there was a loud crack and he fell to the ground. Riku plucked the keys from his belt, unlocked the door then cautiously walked through into what appeared to be a kitchen. Dominic walked in after her and looked around, there was a staircase and two doors, he walked to the one on the left and put his ear against it.

"There people in there we need to hurry." He walked to the next door and listened. "Sounds like one person, we can take them." He opened it quickly, and ran in, putting his left hand around the person's mouth and with his right hand he held a dagger at their throat.

"Don't try to resist or scream, you'll be dead before your lips even move." It was a young woman, probably in her twenties; she had long brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes to match. The girl looked terrified, but she nodded grimly, he moved his hand off her mouth but kept the dagger at her throat.

"There's no way out of this room, if I make even the tiniest scream, someone will hear me and you will be trapped, you can kill me there's no point in my life anyways." She said grimly, and glared at Riku, who had shut the door quietly and locked it.

"Look, we just need clothes so we can look like servants. We don't really mean to kill you if you help us, but if you don't we really don't have a choice."

"Are you in the resistance?" She asked, eyebrows raised.

"No, not in it. Leading it." Riku said.

"Riku!" Dominic hissed.

"Do you really think she would help us if we didn't tell her, why else would we be here anyways?" He didn't reply but still glared at her.

"Let me go."

"No, how do we know you don't have a dagger on you or that you'll scream," she opened her mouth to interrupt him but he kept going, "or that you will run away?"

"I won't. I swear, just let me go."

"Let her go." Riku said finally and he heeded. The girl took a step forward, but Dominic could still reach her if he tried.

"You say you need clothes?" Riku nodded and took in the room's surrounding's, it seemed to be a laundry room; they had gotten lucky. The girl pointed to a shelf behind them, there were a number of white shirts, black skirts and pants. Riku nodded and took a skirt and a shirt; she slipped she skirt over her pants, and then stared pointedly at Dominic, who was staring back at her.

"Do you mind?"

"No." He answered playfully, Riku pushed him into a corner and made him face the wall.

"Stay that way," She said to him and then turned and changed her shirt, the girl looked away from both of them.

"Alright, I'm good." Dominic said, he didn't need to change pants; they were black.

"Me too," Riku said to Dominic, then turned to the girl, "Thanks for your help." Then she turned to the door and unlocked it.

"Wait Riku, how do we know she won't talk?" Dominic asked and looked suspiciously at the girl.

"I won't, I swear. I would join the resistance if I could leave the castle…but I'm a servant and I can't."

"Why not? The gate is right there."

"Yes, I know, I'm not blind. Galbatorix has magic on it, you can't leave as long as you're wearing this bracelet." She held up her arm to reveal a black leather band.

"Take it off." Dominic said simply, she shook her head.

"It's magic, it can never come off Galbatorix has to release you himself." She said regretfully.

"Sorry to hear that, what's your name?" Riku asked her.

"Eva."

"We'll come back and help you Eva, but we really need to go now."

"Alright, you can try. Be warned, there might be guards at the top of the stairs, where are you going exactly?"

"Just to look around." Eva seemed to be considering something.

"Well, if you really want to help me, and make Galbatorix angry, you could try to steal one of the eggs."

"Eggs?"

"His dragon eggs, you could try to steal one, no servants or guards are allowed in the room, the bracelets restricts servants, and the guard's bracelets don't let them go into any rooms."

"Are you saying that Galbatorix has dragon eggs? And we can just walk in and get them?" She nodded.

"In theory yes, but it might be locked or something."

"Riku, we really need to go." Dominic said warningly, and he was right they had spent too much time here, someone was bound to have noticed back at the resistance.

"Right, goodbye Eva." Riku said and followed Dominic out of the room, and then they started up the stairs.

"She could be lying." He said and turned around suddenly, once more she bumped into him, again.

"Stop that!" She whispered furiously, and pushed past him up the stairs, and looked around. There were no guards, just a clear pass; Riku had a map of the castle that she got long ago, and by now she had it memorized. They kept to the shadows, but they did not meet any guards. Dominic walked to the door, and turned the handle; surprisingly it was not locked.

"Dominic, wait-." Riku started before he entered the room. "Don't you think that we have been too lucky?"

"Let's just look, we'll leave as soon as we see."

"Alright." She agreed rather reluctantly and followed him in. On a large counter there sat two large gems, one emerald one scarlet. The light coming in from the door bounced off the surface of the eggs, illuminating the color and the white webbing on the surface.

"Do you think those are the eggs? They look like large jewels."

"Yes, I think so." He reached out and touched the glossy surface, then drew back. "Let's take one." He said, glancing back up at Riku.

"Are you mad?"

"I'm taking it." He said finally and picked the emerald egg, then walked back to the door. Riku followed him down the stairs and back to the servant's area, Dominic didn't stop once. When they reached the gate he stopped just long enough to slip through, and then started to sprint again.

"Dominic! Stop!" She shouted when they reached buildings, he slipped into a long alley ending in an opening of another street then came to a dead halt.

"I cannot believe you just stole a dragon egg."

"Yes, but sadly you won't get too far." A cold voice said from the entrance of the narrow lane. They both whipped their heads towards the voice, and saw a tall man with three guards behind him.

"Run Dominic!" Riku shouted as the guards advanced, he looked at her for a split second then ran down the alley, the guards followed him and didn't stop when they passed Riku. The man who had spoke approached her calmly, Riku glared at him, and held her ground; hand hovering over her dagger. To her surprise, he jumped to the left and tied a rope around her wrists, connecting it to jagged piece of wood sticking out from the wall before she could move.

"I have to go catch your friend, but we'll be back for you later, and once we're done your interrogation, the guards can have you. See the price you pay for being in the resistance?" She wriggled her wrist when he had turned and slipped her hand out, then threw a dagger at his back. He jerked to the side, and caught the dagger without even turning. He then retraced his steps back to Riku, running his finger over the edge, she pulled her other wrist out of the rope.

"I would have taken you for myself before the guards, but I've changed my mind; I don't like bitches." He spat, Riku backed up against the wall, he had a dager and she didn't, she could fight him using her fists; but she wouldn't do much.

"You'll never take me, no matter how hard you try, you can't catch me." He then held her hand against the wall and slammed a dagger into it. Riku let out a small scream and the gritted her teeth; he gave her a sarcastic smile and jogged down the alley. She moaned and sank down as far as she could, blood dripped down off her wrist and mixed with rainwater, she slipped in a puddle and screamed when the dagger shifted. Riku knew she could not stay here, she had to help Dominic, she lifted her hand to the dagger's hilt and tried to pry it out of the wall, but she couldn't it was stuck. Riku gritted her teeth again, she knew what she had to do. She grabbed her wrist and pulled down on her stabbed hand. Riku whimpered and pulled harder, this time she felt a large, sharp pain in her hand, traveling up her arm. There were many revolting crunches as small bones were broken, and a large sickening crack; her hand was now free of the dagger, which was still stuck fast in the wall. Riku fell to the ground and curled into a ball, clutching her broken hand; warm blood seeping over her fingers and onto the wet ground. Rain hailed down on her, footsteps sounded in a distance, they were growing closer until they were right next to her head. They said something to her, but she didn't hear; Riku was already unconscious.

A/N: ALL DONE! Gaaah! I wrote fluff! Noooo -bangs head on monitor- sorry, I just really do not like fluff it annoys me. Ok so reviews would be nice, thanks for reading, ta ta!