Friends and Foes

And now we are back to the Narnia stories! I promise to write other stories as well; it's just that I love Narnia so much. I liked the books well enough when I was growing up ("The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" was always my most favorite), but it wasn't until the new movies by Disney and Walden Media came out that I became the devoted fan I am today! And writing about Tumnus and Lucy and the gang is simply too dang fun!

Anyway, I present to you my seventh story, "Friends and Foes", a story about Tumnus and his friend Terence, my OC from previous stories. Enjoy the story, but please keep in mind that Terence belongs to me, and that he is NOT to be used in any other stories without my expressed permission. Tumnus belongs to C.S. Lewis, but Terence is totally, utterly, completely, 100% MINE.

Your honesty is greatly appreciated.

Now that I got that out of my system, read on! And please leave me a review or two, if you can! No one's forced to review this, obviously; but it would make me very, very happy if you did.


Terence © unicorn-skydancer08

Other Characters and Narnia © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media

All rights reserved.


Chapter 1

Terence was feeling lonely. The young white-haired human (well, in truth, he was a young unicorn who had been changed into a man, not so very long ago) was tramping alone through the woods, wishing he had someone to keep him company.

It was a beautiful sunlit day, but the bright sunshine, the clear azure sky, and the cool breeze did little to raise his spirits. Normally Terence was a lively, chipper fellow; but today, it was taking nearly all of his strength and will just to get his legs to move. His lofty shoulders drooped, his head lolled from his neck, and his feet felt like lead weights.

As the dejected youth passed by Castle Cair Paravel, he spotted young Queen Lucy in one of the outer courtyards. Suddenly that gave Terence an idea.

Perhaps Lucy could use some company, too. Perhaps she could use a friend as well.

So Terence made a beeline for the castle. As soon as he reached Lucy, he said, "Hello, Lucy."

"Hello, Mr. Terence," Lucy greeted him cordially.

He had to chuckle at the little girl's unwarranted decorum. "Dear Lucy, how many times must I tell you? Just call me Terence. You should know me well enough by now to trust me and feel perfectly comfortable around me. Besides, such formalities are not really my thing."

She smiled somewhat sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Terence," she said meekly. "That's just the way I was brought up. I was brought up to refer to people as 'Mr.', or 'Miss', or 'Mrs.' Anyway, what may I do for you?"

"I was just walking by, and I wondered if you might like some company."

"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Terence," said Lucy kindly, "but not right now. I have some 'queenly affairs' to attend to today." She didn't sound very happy about it, or particularly enthusiastic. "Perhaps we can play later."

Terence's face fell, and he looked away from the child. "Oh," he said softly. "I…I see. Well, then, I guess I'll just be on my way, and let you get around to your responsibilities."

Lucy could tell Terence was feeling lonesome. "Why don't you go see Mr. Tumnus?" she suggested. "I'm quite sure you'll find him in his cave, and he's your closest friend."

Terence's face now lit up. "Hey, that's a great idea!" he said. "Thanks, Lucy!" And then he wheeled around and rushed away—or rather danced away, as his body movements were always so smooth and fluid and graceful, whether he was in the form of a unicorn, or a man.


Terence soon arrived at the cave in the woods where Tumnus the faun lived.

The front door was left ajar, and so Terence eased himself through the gap. Inside, he found Tumnus sitting alone at a desk, scrawling something on a piece of parchment. Even from where he stood, Terence could hear the scratch of Tumnus's quill, and he could see the faun's golden-brown curls glistening in the dancing light emanating from the fire in the hearth.

Tumnus had just received inspiration for an outstanding thesis, and he was anxious to write everything down while it was all yet fresh in his memory.

For a time, Terence stayed where he was and watched his best mate, listening to the faun mutter to himself while he scribbled away, and finally he started walking forward, moving so cautiously and so elegantly that he never made a sound. Tumnus was far too absorbed in his thesis to really notice Terence approaching him anyway, and when Terence reached him, he gave Tumnus a swift, sharp poke in the bare shoulder, saying, "Hey, there, mate!"

Tumnus cried out and gave a great jump, which resulted in a considerable-sized black blot appearing on the parchment. When Tumnus glanced over his shoulder and saw it was only Terence, indignation quickly replaced his fright. "Terence—I hate it when you do that!" he said crossly, narrowing his china-blue eyes in contempt. "Why must you always sneak up on me like that, and frighten the living daylights out of me? What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I came to see you," Terence replied matter-of-factly. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to spend the afternoon with me, mate."

Tumnus shook his head. "I can't, Terence." Motioning toward his thesis, he went on, "As you can see, I've got much work to do. I haven't got the time to spare to be with you today."

"Let me look at that thing." Before Tumnus could stop him, Terence shot forth a hand and snatched up the parchment from the table—none too gently.

"Hey, be careful!" Tumnus admonished, when he heard the parchment crinkle.

Terence silently skimmed through the thesis, and when he was through, he looked at Tumnus incredulously and asked, "You call this 'work'?"

Tumnus frowned at him. "Give me that," he ordered, snatching the parchment back. "Come on, Terence, I'm very busy. I must complete this thesis while I can still think of the right words, and I cannot afford to be disturbed. Please, just go. I'll meet with you later."

"What's so important about writing, anyway?" Terence wanted to know. "All you're really doing is scribbling on a piece of paper."

"Hey," Tumnus defended, "writing is not as simple as it sounds, Terence. It's a very intricate and meticulous art, one that requires delicate care and painstaking exactness."

"You make it sound like it's a living thing," said Terence sardonically.

"Oh, what do you know? You've spent the majority of your life without literature! Up till just recently, you'd never even known what a book was, or how to even properly hold a pen!"

"Hey," Terence shot back, "just because I didn't receive the same kind of education in my youth that you did doesn't mean I lack intelligence! I'm every bit as smart as you are, Mr. Superior. In fact, I know plenty of things that you can scarcely even begin to imagine."

Tumnus's face felt hot, and he knew it wasn't because of the heat from the fire. Turning away from Terence, he said curtly, "Just go away, Terence. Leave me alone."

"Okay," said Terence, every bit as curtly, "fine. I'm going."

"And don't slam the door on your way out," Tumnus said, as he picked up his quill again.

Terence looked at the faun for a minute, but Tumnus's eyes and mind were focused entirely on his writing. Eventually Terence begrudgingly headed for the door.

He started to close the door slowly behind him, but then he stopped halfway and, just to spite Tumnus, gave the door a swift, abrupt jerk, which resulted in a deafening slam.

Inside the cave, Tumnus gave another start at the unexpected bang, and this time he upset his bottle altogether. Ink spilled everywhere, getting all over the parchment and flooding the entire table, and dripping onto the floor.

"Oh, no!" Tumnus groaned, when he saw the dreadful mess. "Terence!"

Feeling a perverse pleasure in having vexed Tumnus, Terence simply turned on his heel and walked away, without once looking back.