A/N: Hi! Thanks you guys for reviewing and thanks for those who are following and who favorite this story. This chapter has a little time-skip, and just to let you guys know; last chapter took place just south of the lone mountain north of Feinster.

Disclaimer: It's a Kodak moment *sob*. Anybody know who said that? Not mine.

A-R-Y-A

Snowfire and Cadoc were riding even faster than elvin horses, and that meant they were going fast. Either they sensed that something was wrong with Eragon, or the enchantments he put on them were taking effect. Arya was thankful for the horses, as they provided a much easier way to transport Eragon and fast travel.

Reaching her mind out to Angela, she asked, Angela where are we going?

Angela didn't say anything quirky or out of the normal, and that was strange. We're heading for the southernmost tip of the Spine, which is directly west of Feinster.

Is there a port there? Arya asked.

Angela gave no mental verbal response, only mentally nodded. Arya concluded it would take roughly two to three hours to reach their destination. Instead, she focused her attention on the half-elf in front of her. Angela, Selena, and Solembum were riding on Snowfire, while Arya and Eragon were riding on Cadoc. Arya had her arms wrapped around his abdomen and her chin on his shoulder so she could see over him, and for other reasons.

Arya was still getting used to Eragon's brown hair that went beyond his ears; it definitely wasn't like Evan. She cursed herself for comparing the two people; no, they were the same people. She knew from her talks with Angela and Selena that Eragon behaved exactly like Evan had. And that was kind, sweet, loving, and compassionate. But to enemies, he cut them down without mercy. Arya suspected that it was because of the loss of his dragon, and his revenge was taking control.

Before Eragon had been discovered, she knew who he went by in the Varden, and that was Evan, which was unsurprising yet surprising at the same time. She had heard about his actions in the small town of Hultharb in Surda. When Eragon was on his knees and had two swords pointed towards him, Nasuada had brought in some of the warriors who defied the commander also. Before Nasuada could punish them, Eragon said, 'Do not punish them for taking the right actions. I was the one who defied the commander and I take full responsibility.'

Arya admired him for that, but then it reminded her of Evan and she turned her head away. Nasuada had asked him, 'Why do you take full responsibility for everyone's actions?'

'What have they done wrong? Nothing. It was I who disobeyed the commander, as his plan was utterly stupid, and they made the correct decision to follow me.' Eragon's boldness had surprised her at the time, and judging from the look on the other's faces it had surprised them too.

Nasuada then leaned back in her chair, 'Well then.' She said, 'you leave me with two options. Number one; I could give you thirty lashes and you may leave the Varden. Number two; I can give you fifty lashes and you may stay with the Varden.'

Immediately, Eragon began, 'Thirty lash –'. He stopped abruptly, but then said, 'Fifty lashes.'

Arya had been confused at his sudden change of choice, but did not question it.

Within the hour, Eragon was to be whipped. She watched as the man whose name she thought to be Evan was strapped to the pole roughly. Almost all of the Varden had come to watch the whipping, and most were curious to see what they thought was a young man who had defied his commander. When the man finally raises the whip, the man's eyes met hers. Arya gasped and her knees buckled. Those eyes; they were Evan's eyes. And all through the whippings, neither of them moved their eyes away from the other.

Bringing herself back to the present, she looked down at the wonderful creature in her arms. Arya didn't need to steer the horse, as all she had to do was give him mental instructions on where to go. She had told Cadoc to follow Snowfire, as she wouldn't have to give any directions at all.

Then, an idea struck Arya's mind. Reaching out her mind to touch Eragon's she felt his mind totally open. She entered his mind; she saw that he was dreaming. But that wasn't good.

Eragon was standing with his blue blade in front of him, battling an elf with blonde hair and blue eyes. All around him, there were bodies of dead dragons and riders, human and elf alike. But what surprised her was the fact that the Wyrdfell and Galbatorix were not alone. There were creatures in black cloaks and humps on their backs attacking the riders and dragons. A terrible screech wracked the air, and she looked up and saw a hideous creature that looked as if it were made of leather.

It was chaos, but that wasn't even a fourth of it. A roaring wail pierced the air, and it distracted the elf long enough for Eragon to decapitate him. And suddenly, Eragon was on the ground screaming, saying "Don't leave me!"

Eragon hobbled over to a blue dragoness. Arya figured that she would've looked beautiful if not for the gashes and blood that covered her body. An elderly man with a silver beard was on his knees, looking at a much lighter dragon. And she realized the two were Saphira. The man must've been Brom, for he wailed at the sky and drew his sword. It was a light blue to match his own Saphira, and it contained the Ancient Language glyph that meant Undbitr. Brom leaped out of her field of vision, and she quickly swiveled her head to follow his movements. But it was too late.

A man with burly arms and muscles held a black sword between horizontal and vertical. And impaled on the sword was Brom, dead.

Eragon cried out in agony, and then it turned to complete rage. The sadness that dwelled within his eyes made her knees buckle. The half-elf was about to leap towards Galbatorix, as he had his back turned, but two women held him back.

"Eragon, there's nothing you can do!" Shouted the woman she recognized as Selena. Angela and Selena were pulling Eragon away from the battle, foot by foot.

"Mother is right Eragon! We must leave!" Angela shouted towards her brother.

"Cowards! Traitors! I hate you all!" Eragon cried towards the heavens. All of the females present, even though Arya wasn't exactly present, had tears pouring down their faces. They all hated to see Eragon in such pain, and it hurt Arya herself to see this dream. Although she had a suspicion that this dream wasn't all that happened.

Arya couldn't take it anymore, so she withdrew from his mind. Arya no longer felt the rapid clatter of hooves, but they were slower than before. Angela and Selena were riding right next to her and Eragon, but it was the sadness in their eyes that caught her attention.

"Horrible isn't it?" Angela asked lowly.

"I only saw one." Arya asked, choking on her cries.

"Doesn't really matter does it? They're all terrifying." Angela said darkly. "I'm honestly surprised he hasn't started screaming yet."

Arya didn't say anything, only looked ahead, and was startled to see the sea. "How long was I in his mind?"

Angela answered again, and Arya realized that Selena was asleep. "Two hours; we're almost there."

Arya nodded her head, and stared forward. Without moving her head, she asked, "What exactly is wrong with Eragon?"

She heard Angela sigh, "The spell he used to create the explosion isn't the reason for his coma. When you use the spell for that reason it takes a strange type of energy, and most of the time we'd be grateful that he lost it."

"What kind of energy?" Arya asked.

"Hate." Angela answered simply. Hate? What a strange type of energy.

"But why aren't you grateful he lost it?"

"Because he isn't the Eragon we know without his hatred, and only Eldrian can restore it." Angela replied.

Arya took a moment to respond, "That's messed up."

Angela laughed, "Yes I suppose it is. But enough chit-chat, we're almost there." Looking ahead, she saw that the sea was half a mile away from them, and she could make out a white vessel tied to the land. Arya was nervous; she had never been on a boat before. Angela saw her queasy look, and said excitedly, "Relax Arya, boat rides are fun!"

It took another five minutes to reach the boat, and she saw that there was no one around; how were they supposed to drive the boat? She voiced her question to Angela.

"It's called magic Arya." She tended to forget that you could do just about anything with magic. She heard Angela wake up Selena, and then she looked at Eragon in front of her. Swinging herself off the horse, but holding Eragon at the same time, she called out, "A little help here!"

"Magic!" Angela shouted towards her. Dammit! How do I forget? She asked herself.

"Risa," she directed the magic towards Eragon, and he slowly rose up into the air. "Tauthr eka." Follow me. Walking in the direction of the boat, she glanced back every so often to see if Eragon was still following her in the air. Walking on the plank that led onto the boat, she asked, "Where do I put him?"

"In his cabin; down the stairs and the third door on the left." Selena told him as she walked onto the ship as well.

"Wait, his cabin? This is your ship?" Arya asked incredulously.

Selena nodded, "Of course; Eragon and Brom built this ship with the white wood from Alalea."

"Alalea! What do you mean?!" Arya practically shouted.

"Calm down child, all shall be explained while we are at sea." Selena told her motherly. After fifteen more minutes of gathering supplies, Arya followed Selena's instructions and brought him into his room. It was surprisingly bare and it only contained a bed that was large enough for two people, a fact that she noticed immediately, a nightstand, and a plank of wood that was sticking out of the wall. She set him down on the bed and walked over the small ledge. There were six circles of slate on the ledge, and they were fairths.

The one on the far left was of a man with a silver beard and a smile on his face. It was Brom. Behind him in the fairth was Saphira I and she was looking straight at Eragon.

To the right of that was of Angela with a sword that looked deadly sharp. Solembum was lying next to her feet appearing to be asleep.

The next fairth was one of Selena in a city that she hadn't seen before. Even though she could not see the city itself, its grandeur was shining through.

The next one was of a blue dragoness, and it could only be Eragon's Saphira. The fairth showed so much sadness, yet so much joy at the same time.

The next one surprised her; it was one of her when she was a little girl. She was asleep in Eragon's arms, and she had a content look on her face. Arya could see the happiness that he put in the fairth.

However, it was the last one that was the most surprising. Eragon had not one, but two fairths of Arya. It was one depicting her as what she looked like now, so it could've been from when she was twenty to now. But no, Arya remembered that moment, and she would always remember that moment. It was the day he was being whipped, and they were staring intently into the other's eyes. She saw herself look weak in the knees and moisture was brimming in both Arya's eyes.

Tearing her eyes away from the fairth, she looked at Eragon one last time and left the cabin. She walked through the hall and up the stairs onto the deck of the ship. They were already out in the water, and the ropes and wheel were moving themselves. She had never really studied about ships, and the only time they were really mentioned in history was the time when elves and Urgals arrived in Alagaesia and then humans several hundred years later.

There was one part of the ship she was familiar with, and that was the crow's nest. There were paintings and fairths of the elves ships in Tialdari Hall in Ellesmera, but they never showed any way of getting to the crow's nest.

Looking up at the top again, she saw that there were several barrels hanging from the edge by a rope. Following the rope with her eyes, it led down to the railing of the ship and was knotted there. If she was correct, and she was probably was, then if she cut the rope while holding onto the rope above the cut, and if the barrels were heavy enough, she be flung into the air.

Drawing her thin elven sword, she stood up on the railing using the rope she was about to cut for support. Holding onto the rope with her left hand, she raised her sword and swung at the rope.

She was immediately launched into the air, and she was holding onto the rope with all her might. When she was about to hit the nest, she let go of the rope and used the momentum to grab onto the edges. Heaving herself up, she fell onto the other side, onto a person.

"Hey!" Angela shouted.

"Sorry," Arya said. She quickly rolled of Angela and onto the wood next to her. Surprisingly the nest was very large, and there was plenty of room. "So are you going to tell me about the Alalean wood?"

"Sure," Angela replied casually.

Arya waited patiently, and when no story was forthcoming, she thought on her words and asked in a different manner. "What is the story behind the Alalean wood?"

Angela smiled towards her, and Arya growled in response. It was impossible to speak casually around, and you had to voice your questions correctly or you would never get your answer.

"One day when Brom, Eragon, and both Saphira's were at the tailbone of the Spine, why they were there is beyond me, Saphira I saw a gleaming white in the water. Curious as to see what it was, the dragons swam into the water and dug up a white ship. Eragon and Brom quickly discovered that it was one of the ships that the elves used to sail from Alalea. They cleaned it up with magic and brought it to Varnalond. We claimed the ship as our own and we've been using it ever since. I think Eragon was thirty-two at the time."

"I see." Arya said absentmindedly. And before she knew it, she yawned loudly and stretched her arms.

Angela obviously noticed her actions, "Go get some sleep, no one needs to stay awake anyway."

Arya nodded and before she knew it she was standing on the deck of the ship. She looked up at the crow's nest again and she saw Angela looking over the edge and smiling at her. "Where do I sleep?"

"Down the stairs and third door on the left," Angela called down with a smile on her face. Arya didn't understand why she was smiling like that, but she was too exhausted to think about it. Walking down the stairs and going to the third door on the left she opened it and walked inside. Without even looking around she collapsed on the bed and felt warms arms encircle around her. She didn't bother to question whose they were, as she was far too tired to even think.

Arya was too tired to think that she was in Eragon's room, on Eragon's bed, sleeping in Eragon's arms.