Niaomi: The Journey

5 | Crouching

A/N: So, we're back at Teirm after Niaomi's vision of Saphira's hatching - what events shall hatch next? Quick note: chapter seven will involve another timeskip, but also have our main man featured once more! And speaking of main men...

Picture of Eragon up above.

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This time, when Nia sprang up from a bed gasping for air, she was in the same place where she'd fallen asleep.

She fell back onto the straw mattress, breathing deeply as the sun rose from outside the narrow window above her head. Staring up at the lightening sky, Niaomi did not move until she heard one of her roommates stir. She turned her head to see her youngest brother rising with a large yawn, his hair tousled as he blinked blearily before her gaze caught his attention. "Mmph. Morning, Nia."

"Morning, Nick," she replied, watching with some amusement as he rolled out of bed with a soft thump. "You're up early; dawn's just arriving."

"That so?" he mumbled from the floor, not bothering to lift his head. "Why are you already up and lucid?"

"Had a vision."

Nick did raise his head at that, propping it up with both hands so that he could examine his sister. She'd turned so that she was staring up at the ceiling once more, which had windows scattered about it in a very uncommon architectural style. Directing his thoughts away from the building and back to Nia, he asked her, "What was it about?"

She just sighed that sigh that meant trouble. "Wasn't of the Progenitor, if that's what you're asking."

"That's not what I'm asking."

"Then it wasn't of anything important, now was it?" Niaomi abruptly swung her feet out of bed and called to their brother, "Wake up, lazy bones!"

Nathan didn't move an inch, and so she threw her pillow at him. It landed squarely on his head, but he merely rolled over and groaned, "Just a few minutes more, Mor."

His siblings froze at his words, and Nicholas gathered the courage to glance at their sister. Her expression was frozen, the exasperated smirk still on her face, until at last she looked at him and said, "Try yours."

He smiled at that and said, "Aye aye," before tossing his own pillow at his brother. Nate finally awoke at the impact, sputtering as some of the feathers flew out to tickle his nose while the other two laughed uproariously.

"Why, you - " was all their brother said before lunging at Nick, trying to pin him down. He squirmed away as they began wrestling around, grunts and curses interspersed with Nia's cheers. Which brother she rooted for, he could not tell.

Just as he managed to hook one of Nathan's leg and pin him down for the moment, someone before him cleared their throat. The two men looked up to see a disheveled woman glaring down at them with thunderous eyes. "And what, pray tell, are you two doing at such an ungodly hour?"

They were in for it now. Gulping, Nicholas tried a smile as he said, "Morning, love."

"Don't you dare 'love' me!" Ren hissed.

"Now, that's just impossible," he said with a wink, falling to the side as his brother shook him off. "Ouch!"

"And you," the once-blonde brunette continued in a fierce whisper, pointing down at Nate. "You are no doubt the cause of all this!"

"Me!" the young man protested even as his siblings chortled behind him. Oh, he'd pay them back for this one. "Why's it always got to be me who's the cause?"

"Because it always is you who's the cause." Renata turned, her nightdress spinning behind her, and ignored his grumbling. "Now, I'm going back to wake my sister since the rest of us are all up and about - and I can assure you that she won't be very pleased with you, Nathan."