Eragon paced outside of Murtaghs tent, waiting for the rider to wake up. Eragon groaned as another agonizing minute crawled by. He longed to run after Saphira, save her and kill the tyrant. The only thing that kept him back was he knew he could not do it alone. Eragons feet were beginning to hurt, he had been walking in circles for hours. Eragon ran inside as he heard shuffling in the tent. He poked his head in just in time to see Murtagh strapping his sword, Zar'roc, to his hip.

"Are you ready to go?" Eragon asked, so fast he barely understood it himself. His brother, however, seemed to know what he wanted,

"We cannot just rush into the castle, we have to plain. To just run into the gates would be...would be..well it would be suicide. You might as well give yourself up to the king." The last part was said as if Murtagh was trying to convene himself. Eragon shook it off and tried again,

"We have to leave! Saphira is there!"

"Eragon, listen to me. We. Have. To. Plain. First." Eragon groaned and rolled his eyes, Murtagh was getting on his nerves.

"Fine then, if we must plain, Nasuada is waiting for us." Murtagh nodded and strode out of the tent, like he knew his way around. He took about five steps before he turned around, looking at Eragon, who was still standing where he had been.

"Well?" Eragon asked, quirking one eye brow. Murtagh sighed and said,

"Will you show me to Nasuadas tent?" Eragon smirked slightly as he took the lead, the longing to run to Saphira still tugging at his heart.

~LATER~

Nasuada rubbed her temples as she listened to Murtagh tell of the various ways they could get into the castle. It had been hours and, in all honesty, the predicament was beginning to annoy her. How the blasted king had managed to secure his castle so well was beyond her, but she knew it was not going to be easy to get in.

She glanced at the people sitting around her, almost giggling at Arya. She was glaring at Eragon, and he was staring back, but his stare was begging her to forgive him. What had he done now? Shrugging it aside, she turned her thoughts back to the map in front of her.

"Could we not just go in the side entrance?" Nasuada asked, placing a finger on the map. There was a trap door on the left side of the castle, according to Murtagh it was not easy to open from the outside but, if they could get it open before being seen, it was not heavy guarded. Murtagh placed a hand on his chin, thinking it over.

"It may be our best bet, but I have my doubts if I will be able to get it open..."

"It will be opened," Eragon said, "and we will save Saphira." Nasuada raised an eyebrow at him, examining his facial expression. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was determined, and nothing would stop him.

"Very well then, we will use that entrance. If we can make it down the hallway, the stair case to the dragon keep is only a few feet away. The only problem is, once we get the wards down so we can get into the gates, we will have about...two minutes, at the most, before the dragon keep is swarming with imperial solderers."

"It will be done," Eragon whispered, as if talking to himself, "it has to."

(Arya POV)

Arya slowly walked into the cold water of Leona lake, lifting her leather pants so they would not get wet. She stopped when her feet were submerged, sighing in relief. The water always calmed her, although she knew not why. The elf glanced over her shoulder, looking at the dancing fires. The Varden's camp was not to far away, just outside of Belatona. They had decided not to stay inside the actual city when they had captured it six months earlier.

She took a step further into the water, it now coming up to her mid calf. She sighed, her thoughts racing. Eragon had tried to talk to her several times since she yelled at him yesterday, all of which she ignored. She didn't feel like talking to him, she was still angry. But, despite herself, she found she was slowly forgiving him. Each time she saw his milk chocolate eyes some of her anger melted away.

'what happened to you Arya? You used to be so strong, nothing could change your opinion.' She thought.

'He came.' Her conscience replied, leaving her thinking. She dug inside her, trying to find the solution. She came up empty handed, her brain raking over her thoughts. The elf was so confused, and so deep in thought, she failed to hear the splashing besides her. In fact, she didn't notice the person until they placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. Arya jumped forwards, despite the water. She felt herself falling, because of the water resistance, and she felt her heart jump. She reached out for anything that would hold her up, grasping at thin air.

She caught site of Eragons surprised face as he grabbed her hand, but it was to late. With a loud splash she was covered in the ice cold water. A second later another splash sounded next to her, and she felt someone grabbing her hands. She came up, coughing and sputtering. Blinking away the water she looked at Eragon. He was smirking slightly, still holding her hands, water dripped from his dark brown hair and eyelashes. Slowly, he shook his head, showering her with little pellets of water.

She stood abruptly, immediately flinching from the cold wind that hit her. The elf ran to the shore, allowing herself to lay on the grainy sand.

"I'm sorry I startled you, Arya." Eragon said, sitting besides her. The elf flipped on her back, staring at the stars in the sky.

"It is alright Eragon, I know you did not mean to." She replied after a slight hesitation. She hated the way her voice sounded. So formal, although he was her friend. They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each others company. It was Eragon who broke the silence,

"I am truly sorry for acting the way I did yesterday." Eragon whispered, "I did not mean to act the way I did, it was like some...force took over my actions. Murtagh has forgiven me, will you?" Arya shifted her weight so she could look at the rider. He looked at her with pleading eyes, begging her to forgive him. Inside she knew the answer. She had forgiven him even as she walked away from him the day before.

"It is forgiven."

A/N: Yes, another short filler chapter. But I have good news! The next chapter they leave to save Saphira, so you know that that will bring some action! Right? Well I hope you know that. I hope you liked/loved/hated or whatever this chapter...actually, I don't hope you hated it, but if you did I hope you let me know.

If you think Arya is a tad bit OOC, keep in mind it has been a year since Brisingr and she has spent the majority of that time with an emotionally distraught Eragon.

Reply to N1ghtSky: Thanks so much for reading! :)

Reply to basketballstar: No problem, I'm just glad you read and enjoyed!

Reply to ScienceWolf: Thank you.

Reply to Restrained . Freedom: Lol, I guess that is a possibility...honestly, I wrote and re-wrote that battle scene about a thousand times, and that was the one I was most happy with, so that is why it is the way it is.

Reply to IronMikeTyson: Thanks.