"I don't know what you mean," the boy said stubbornly, causing Eragon to wonder if he was being deliberately daft. He continued to watch the boy, this time with curiosity, and was reminded he had never seen another human before.
Well, no, that's not true. Several humans had dared to venture through the Spine.
Always he would see them from afar and each time it was because he was saving them from their own predicament. They never stuck around long for them to interact, and he had never truly dedicated his time to study them. Now, he was left unimpressed.
The boy didn't look any different from him. Maybe a tad taller, a wider jaw, and darker hair. Otherwise, there was nothing special. Other than the fact that the boy obviously didn't care for his life. In conclusion, humans were rather stupid, weren't they.
Eragon watched him scratch behind his head, sheepish, as the silence grew around them. "…to be honest, my father doesn't realize I'm here," the boy finally said.
"So why are you?"
He shifted a bit, kicked his feet, looked around, nervous. "…I wanted to thank you." Eragon blinked. "Because of you, I was able to bring something home for my family to eat that day."
"You came here just for that?" Eragon scoffed. "I wasn't doing it for you. I wanted you out of my forest."
The boy furrowed a brow and frowned. "Your forest? You can't mean that you live here?"
"Yes," Eragon said in a tone that dared him to say otherwise. He didn't. His eyebrows rose, but he said nothing.