A/N

So...another chapter, as promised. I've been working my way up in length. It's kind of a filler, with some minor progress. Being entirely honest, clothes aren't my thing. If someone wants to help with that, it will be much appreciated. I literally googled "funeral clothes" when nothing came up, then described an outfit I thought fit. I'm so helpless… anyways, without further ado...

Chapter 4

Eragon

Everything he saw reminded him of that moment. A voice remotely similar to his mom, a mom talking with her child. Anything and he was reliving that moment. The gun's echo, the screams, the blood. The horrible blood.

The funeral was planned two weeks exactly after the shooting and his car was in the process of being sold. His dad didn't budge on selling the car. His father was another matter. He couldn't blame him. How could it be his fault? If anyone was more messed up than Eragon afterwards, it was Brom.

They were both in grieving. Brom did everything except force Roran to move into their house. Whether it was to replace the hole made in the house or for Roran to have someone to talk to, Eragon didn't know. It did, after all, allow the three of them to distract themselves.

It was the day before the funeral when Brom called for dinner. It was 7:00 pm on the dot as they sat down. "I've done some thinking," his father began.

Eragon smirked and replied "I thought I saw some smoke coming out of your ears."

Roran and Brom laughed at the overused joke. Brom grew serious and said "Eragon, we are going to move." Eragon immediately began to protest as Brom silenced him with a look. "I've already arranged for a moving company to pick our stuff up during the funeral, and I've already signed a contract on a house."

Roran spoke up, saying "damn, you work fast."

Eragon could merely gape at his father, knowing he wasn't finished. Brom continued, "Roran, you can either live here or in your house, the choice is up to you. All I ask is that you let me know by the end of the service tomorrow." Roran nodded, deep in thought about his decision. "Eragon, you will be going to Varden High School, or VHS for short." Eragon was vaguely familiar with the school, having heard of it during his racing teacher research.

"So," Eragon spoke up, "why are we moving?"

"It's a complicated situation, but there are people I need to talk to and living by them for the time being will be very helpful. The current plan is for you to finish high school there." Eragon let it sink in as the three began to eat dinner, trying to bring his questions to the forefront. When nothing else came, he just sat silently and ate dinner until he retired to bed, not being in the mood to do anything else tonight.

As he woke, he realized what was happening today. He immediately became sad, but no tears came. He cried his last a few days ago, plus it wasn't the time to cry. It was the time to push on with life. He grabbed a black button up shirt and gray dress pants, with a slim, gray tie and black belt. The shirt was about a year old, which meant it was a little snug, but it was his only black shirt and he was set on wearing black.

The service began with visitation, as the siblings' closed caskets were side by side. As he saw them, he realized he actually had it good compared to Roran. Nineteen years old with no parents. I can't even imagine what he's going through, Eragon thought as he saw Roran and Katrina huddled in the corner. Katrina was in a black dress, while Roran was in a traditional black suit with a white button up shirt. Moving to pay his respects, he swung wide to pat Roran on the shoulder for comfort, then walked to the caskets. He stared down at the closed caskets, expecting to cry, but tears didn't come. Lots of people came to the visitation. He didn't recognize majority of them. Brom recognized most and welcomed them, but he was more friendly to a few of them. One was a dark skinned man who was bald with a short moustache and beard that covered his chin. Another was a woman with black hair and green eyes, and a final was a man just taller than five feet tall whose face was grim, under his long, white beard.

Eragon saw Brom signal him over and he casually walked to the four. Just before he arrived, he saw three teenagers enter. Two of the three looked strikingly similar to the three currently conversing with Brom, with the third around the same height as the short man speaking with Brom. They were obviously related to the adults.

He was about to turn away when he one of the three met his eyes. She had long, raven black hair, emerald eyes, and an absolutely gorgeous face. She wore a black dress with green detailing, bringing her eyes out more. Her dress hung rather close to her petite form, that was curvy, but not overly curvy, leaving little to his imagination. She stared impassively at him and he felt himself blush. Looking away quickly, he walked to the group of adults right as the other teenagers arrived.

His dad spoke up first. "Eragon, I would like to introduce you to some old friends." As he introduced them, Eragon politely shook their hands. "This is Ajihad, this is Islanzadí, and this is Hrothgar." Brom gestured to the teenagers and added "I don't believe I have met these three."

A strong, confident voice spoke next. As he spoke, Eragon turned to look at Ajihad. He was gesturing towards a dark skinned teenager who had dark hair, with elaborate curls, and brown eyes. She stuck out her hand as they greeted each other warmly. "This is my daughter, Nasuada."

Hrothgar spoke next, saying "this is my foster son, Orik." Eragon shook his hand as he looked at Orik. He was around the same height as Hrothgar and, as a teenager, had a miraculous start to a beard.

Islanzadí spoke next with a smile, saying "and this is my daughter, as I'm sure you can tell, Arya." Eragon looked to lock eyes with Arya. He had spoken with beautiful girls before, but this was different. No words came to his mind and he stood there, dumbfounded. Brom nudged his shoulder as he realized Arya was sticking out her hand. As their hands met, he was struck by the scent of crushed pine needles. He shook his head and greeted the girl.

He stayed for a few more minutes. He politely answered questions and, every now and then, snuck glances at the beautiful teenager. While being oblivious during most glances, she caught him during others. After she caught him again, he decided to go check up on Roran and clear his head. He turned his head to see Roran making his way to the casket, Katrina by his side. Once the conversation died down again, he spoke up, saying "I'm going to check up on Roran. I think he's going to his father's casket now." The adults said their condolences.

He turned to leave, but a voice stopped him in his tracks. "May I go with you? I would like to pay my respects." Unsure if it was what she said or how she said it, he turned back to Arya and nodded, not trusting his voice. The two of them walked towards Roran and, as Roran saw them, gave Eragon a bear hug. It was obvious he was crying.

"Hooking up at a funeral?" Roran joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Completely caught off guard, he stuttered. Arya watched him, intrigued. "I...he...she…," then he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Her mom is a friend of my dad's. She wanted to pay her respects."

Roran smiled mischievously, adding "that's what I'd say too." Katrina smacked his arm. Katrina spoke up, attempting to change the subject. The four of them spoke of various, inconsequential topics. Roran and Eragon were attempting to avoid thinking about their, now passed, loved ones. Arya, Eragon noticed, managed to reveal very little about herself. She spoke formally, even when talking about personal topics. The only thing Eragon learned was that she goes to Varden High School. When she mentioned school, it reminded him of his school and a question came to mind. He voiced it, asking "what kind of car do you have?"

"I drive a 2017 Nissan GT-R, Nismo Edition," she replied nonchalantly.

Eragon's mouth dropped a fraction of an inch. That is a $170,000 car. "The all-wheel drive 3.8L V6 with 600 horsepower?" he asked, extremely curious.

Arya smirked at his knowledge and replied "the very same."

He had endless questions, but before he could say anything, Roran spoke up. "Katrina and I are going to step away while Eragon drools over your car," as both of them stepped away.

A question came to the front of his mind. "Did you drive it here?" Eragon inquired.

"I did, actually. I can't handle long car rides with my mother. Would you like to see it?"

Eragon hesitated. Of course he wanted to see it, but the funeral was starting at 11:30 am and it was 11:20. I can make it quick, he thought. "If you don't mind. We'll have to make it quick, though, because the funeral starts in about ten minutes." She nodded and led him to her car. On the way, he quickly told his dad where he was going. Brom merely nodded and said "be sure to be back before the ceremony starts."

They walked side-by-side as they exited the building and Eragon saw the car. He wanted to run over to it, but didn't want to look stupid next to such a gorgeous girl. Plus she was driving a fucking supercar. The latter was a rare sight, let alone paired with the former. As they approached the car, she popped the hood to reveal the most amazing piece of metal he had ever seen. He spoke, not wanting to drool over the car in silence, "have you done anything custom to it? I see the supercharger is custom, which leads me to believe you might have done other things?"

She smiled at him, which almost made him collapse at her feet, and said "you know your engines. I haven't done a lot other than the supercharger, to be honest. I changed the exhaust, a few other things, and I have spent a lot of time tuning the car, but,for the most part, it's stock." Eragon whistled, impressed. They continued talking about the car when she stopped suddenly and stared at him, as if pondering something. Finally, she said "Do you want to go for a spin?" He almost jumped at the chance until he realized where he was and why he was here. His heart dropped and he checked the time. 11:29 was written rightly across his iPhone.

He muttered "shit," then spoke louder, "we have to go. The ceremony starts in less than a minute." She simply nodded, closed the hood and they began walking briskly back inside. Right before he turned to enter, he noticed a man with red hair and red eyes staring at them, but didn't think anything of it in his haste. As he entered, his dad entered the hallway, followed by Roran, Katrina, Ajihad, Islanzadí, Hrothgar, Nasuada, Orik, and a very long line of people. Eragon filed behind Brom and Arya filed behind Islanzadí. The crowd entered the room, everyone filing into their respective seating areas and the ceremony began.

A/N

I'm planning on leaving the next part of the ceremony out and skip to the burial next. I understand CP's tough time writing Arya now. I can answer any questions about why I wrote specific characters how I did if you have any questions. As for their descriptions, I left them as close to the book as I could. Next chapter will have some actual progress, as this was a lot of fluff and a little bit of progress. I'm completely open to requests about story progress, POVs, character development, character relationships, whatever. Just shoot me a PM or Review. Anyways, R&R please.