Alagaesia High
Chapter 2: The real first day of school
I'm sorry if I took my sweet time getting this written, I had the worst case of writer's block that I've experienced so far, and I'm writing several other stories at the same time. Which ya'll should check out. As well as my profile. Catch ya at the border, bro!
Eragon began barreling to the back of the bus when a catcall broke out from the cluster of seats where the "elves" were sitting.
"Slow down, Eragon! You'll put Arya off!" Faolin teased. Eragon deigned not to respond, and continued his pace until he reached the farthest back seat in the bus.
"You missed, Eragon!" Faolin called, "She's a few seats farther up"! Eragon then sat next to Saphira, a tall girl with spiky blue hair and rock music blaring from her headphones.
They had been inseparable since Eragon was eleven and they double-teamed a bully following Albriech, an old friend of Eragon's. Saphira had been homeless and saw Eragon fighting with the eighth grader. Saphira considered this foul play, and lobbed a brick at the unfortunate brute. She also happened to call to him "Yo wuss! Eat it!" so that he conveniently turned around. And she "accidentally" may have thrown it at approximately waist level. Eragon then snatched a stick and beat the older boy over the skull with it, while he was conveniently doubled over in pain. The boy later developed a phobia of the color blue, which Saphira always surrounded herself with.
It took some doing, but Eragon eventually managed to convince Garrow to adopt a child.
"I take care of my son, my nephew, and my nephew's shadow all by myself!" he often hollered at Eragon when the boy was being lazy. And that was how they met.
Now, Saphira helped around the ranch that Garrow owned. Despite Garrow's offers, she always slept in a tent within the fence that penned the cows in. She always paid her own way, and was fiercely loyal to her friends. She worked at a McDonald's. In fact, the only McDonald's within quite a distance of her home. She often referred to employees of McDonald's as McSlaves.
She would often declare "Time to put on my McSlave attitude!" whenever she left for the afternoon shift.
Now, she listened to Metallica on her "Borrowed" Ipod. Ipod robbery was a common punishment inflicted on those that were foolish to cross her or her friends.
"ERAGON!" A high-pitched voice resounded over all the other miscellaneous chatter in the bus.
"Yes, Nasuada?" Eragon replied wearily. You see, Eragon was in a sort of gang. However, it was more of a collection of the smartest, most talented nerds in Alagaesia high. One of their favorite pastimes was NMRRPG or Non-magical Reality Role Playing Games. Effectively, they made their own PVC weapons for PvP combat. The Varden, Eragon's team, had developed a very specific set of rules. Only the active captain, usually Nasuada, could carry a shield. Helmets required. Only one Archer permitted. They had even created game types. Capture the flag was Saphira's favorite, while King Killer was Eragon's favorite. In King Killer, the entire goal was to kill off the opposing team by striking a lethal spot on the players. However, until the Active Captain was removed from play, all soldiers respawn.
However, it was a rare occurrence that they did not engage in Bunker Buster, Nasuada's preferred mode of play. In this mode, half the team was given materials with which to build a stronghold, a tall oak pole, and ten minutes to create a defensible position. After the ten minutes were up, the other half began their coordinated assault on the Defense. They had to fight their way through trenches, stakes, and even palisades comprised of overturned chairs. And all this time, no one could respawn. The aggressors had to battle their way through the defenses and plant the pole in a designated area, which was usually about ten feet away from the original area. The aggressors received more recruits as they were at a severe disadvantage.
Their team was known as the Varden. NMRRPG was a competitive sport, and had a season of play. Other teams than the Varden included the Elves, Dwarves, Urgals, Surda, and the Empire. Every year, Nasuada had bested most of the teams with her tactical genius. However, the star warriors of the Empire, Galbatorix and Shruikan, were always absent if the Varden defeated them.
Surda usually assisted the Varden, as did the Dwarves.
And so, Nasuada was quite high-strung. As was demonstrated by her hollering "Come over here! We need to organize meeting times for our duels"!
"Of course, Nasuada!" Eragon replied, "I should have to come to you! Just sit next to me, for God's sake!" Nasuada glared daggers at him, but sat in the bench across from him.
"I was thinking, you're our best soldier. And don't argue," she reprimanded, seeing him preparing to debate, then continuing, "you really are. You're our only chance of defeating Galbatorix this year. As such, I believe it would be prudent to organize a strike team of you and some of the Elves, assuming they ally themselves with us. Saphira would come, of course." She assured them, noticing Saphira drawing breath to argue.
"That's all nice and well, but the Empire is one of the biggest teams in the country. If we strike directly at Galbatorix, then we will be as vulnerable as can be to a flanking maneuver." Eragon pointed out.
"While you two bicker about the best manner to defeat them, how about we start with deciding what time and dates our scrimmages will be on." Saphira suggested. "Of course, of course," Nasuada conceded, "let's do that. Oh yes, and I want statistics of how many soldiers we have and how skilled they are. Get on it!" Nasuada commanded, then briskly rose and strode over to Orrin, leader of the team Surda, to discuss leader-ly things. Eragon sighed. Today was going to be a long day.
Bleh. This isn't a true author's note. I just wanted to tell you that part 2 of this chapter will be good. At least better than part 1. And that NMRRPG exists (Might not be called NMRRPG), so there. And I was thinking, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe written in a modern fashion would be cool. For example, Fenris Ulf, Chief of the secret police, would be a Russian. The beavers would be Irish. Review if you like the idea. Or if you don't. GIVE ME FEEDBACK! I BEG YOU!
Eragon leaned against the wall of the school, waiting for the bell to ring. Suddenly, a rather massive weight slammed into him.
"Eragon!" Orik, a vertically challenged friend of Eragon, enveloped Eragon in a bear hug.
"Hey, Orik, I need my ribs intact!" Eragon gasped. The small man wordlessly released him, bellowed another name, and similarly greeted another unfortunate friend.
Eragon sauntered over to where the massively built assistant NMRRPG coach, Mr. Glaedr, was standing.
"And why do you approach me, Eragon?" the tall man queried.
"Forgive me for being polite, sir." Eragon feigned an injured tone. A booming laugh resounded over the yard.
Eragon then jogged over to where Ms. Angela and her husband, Mr. Solembum, were discussing the possibilities of Quantum Physics. "Hello!"Eragon greeted them, shaking hands with first Mr. Solembum, then Mrs. Angela.
"Have you done that research I asked you to do over the Rock of Kuthian?" Mr. Solembum asked, then finishing "How about the Menoa Tree?"
Eragon shook his head and explained "I looked everywhere in my textbooks, even on Google, and I found nothing". Angela cackled quite suddenly, and then pointed at her husband, still laughing.
"HA!" she exclaimed, tears now streaming down her face. "It doesn't exist! And neither do toads! Urban myths, the both of them!" she declared, then fell to the ground and rolled, she was so amused.
The tall, long-haired man shook his head and looked up at Eragon. "No matter how insane she may appear, I've yet to prove her wrong." He explained to Eragon in a warning tone.
"I'm fairly sure you never will." Eragon agreed, having known Angela for three years, which is a trifling amount compared to the thirty long years Mr. Solembum and her had been married.
"Oh, and what am I, chopped liver?" a sarcastic voice behind Eragon demanded.
Angela immediately snapped to attention and declared "I haven't the faintest clue why the subject of that phrase is 'chopped liver'. "Why not a more interesting organ, like 'chopped kidneys', or 'chopped thyroid', or 'chopped te"- she grinned, then continued "It doesn't really matter anyway, does it?"
Eragon whirled around, pretending to have not recognized the sarcastic voice. "Brom! I never would have guessed!" Eragon cried sarcastically.
"In the flesh." Brom responded, then wandered away to harass other students.
Eragon turned to look for someone else to greet when he caught sight of a certain dark-haired green-eyed girl. Suddenly, his knees didn't feel like cooperating.
"HA! Spontaneous human collapse does occur!" Angela proclaimed. Solembum kneeled and helped the teenager up, being as he doubted Angela would even remember about the child in a few moments. Eragon uncertainly regained his feet, and then shot a glance around for his friends.
Saphira sprinted towards him, scattering those in her path like frightened mice. "It's okay, Saphira. I'm fine." He assured her, doing his level best to prevent her from bowling over Mrs. Angela. She slowed, then stopped. A deep growling noise emanated from her throat, the noise she made before a fight. "There's no one to fight, Saphira. It's all good." He reassured her. She visibly relaxed. A shriek split the air, signaling the first hour. Eragon hurriedly dashed away.
His first hour was chemistry with Mrs. Angela. "Today, we will be dissecting frogs." The woman of questionable sanity announced.
"Don't we dissect toads?" An unfortunate student called up to her.
"TOADS DON'T EXIST!" She screamed, and then mumbled "get to work." and sat down at her desk.
Eragon sighed. Leave it to Mrs. Angela to start his year off with digging into the guts of dead things. Eragon wearily took hold of a scalpel and began splitting it open, before he just dropped the scalpel and glanced around the room for something to take his mind off the dead frog on the table in front of him. As he scanned the room, a pair of stark green eyes met his. He stared into Arya's eyes for a few seconds before glancing at the ground. Well there is that, he thought wryly. He heard a cough above him and lifted his gaze. To his infinite surprise, it was none other than Arya Drottning.
AHHH! What will she do? Oh me oh my! Anyways, there are serious (or minor) continuity or grammar or spelling or syntax errors, tell me in the reviews. That's all. (This is my shortest ever author's note.)