Author's Note (Please Read):
Venture Onward Gallant Warrior was originally going to be my first Reepicheep short story and it was to serve as a starting ground for fleshing out Reepicheep's character also the side characters are extremely generic.
Posted for nostalgia purposes only to show growth, the story is pretty basic, following Reepicheep's willingness to be gallant as well as other characters showing their own gallantry. Yes it's cheesy as it gets but it has some of my favorite pieces of dialogue. Besides, it's always good to laugh and smile at yourself every once and a while.
Here's to the (lame) cheesiness.
In its original text. Formatting Edits.
-Venture Onward Gallant Warrior-
Part I
The wind carried its warning to the Dawn Treader. A storm was coming. As the clouds darkened, the rain, assisted by the wind and lighting, advanced like a dark army on the defenseless vessel.
"Release the sails!" Caspian shouted, trying to outdo the wind and thunder, but they did anyway. The crew scrambled to untie the sails from the masts. They had just tied them on but now they had to undo their work. They grumbled and complained like children but did as they were told and did it quickly, despite the rain beating them down to a miserable pulp and the wind being its wingman.
The only one who wasn't grumbling or complaining about the rain was Reepicheep. He was laughing, flipping and dodging like the natural acrobat he was around the masts, slicing ropes as quick as he could. He was timing himself.
"One, two, three, four..." he said aloud, walking causally on the T-bar of the mast, each number indicating a slice of a rope. He barely moved, he just sliced his blade left, then right, in a downward diagonal direction. Slowly he released the main sail.
"Five, six, and," he paused at the last one. "Seven!"
He sheathed his blade. "One minute and fifty nine seconds," he smiled. "Not as fast as the last time but oh well," he shrugged his shoulders, "best is to learn than make future error." He sneered, satisfied with his wit, not afraid or ashamed to admit he was slightly egoistical.
The main sail was down, sort of. It unraveled quickly, like a rug or map. It even had the sound of crumpled up paper and was about halfway down when it stopped moving. Reepicheep looked up and saw that he missed one. It was a rope, tied in a stopper knot on the far end of the sail. At the end of this rope was a large sand bag which appeared to be moving rather violently. Perplexed, the mouse stared at the bag for a moment. Battling the wind and rain that was battling with it, the sounds of a struggle. Screaming.
"Tilden!" A voice heard, "Are you alright?"
Frantic searching. "Tilden!"
Digging sounds, as if through sand.
"Tilden!" The voice cried out in despair. "Where are you moi droog?"
Silence. A sigh, the sounds of weeping and heart break. The wind mocked his tears while the rain taunted the poor soul in the bag. Cries of anguish, as the world, for whoever it was that was in there, was ending.
"Is anybody there?" The voice called.
"I'm here!" Reep answered, screaming over the thunder. "Want me to give you a hand?"
"That would be best." The voice answered. "Have you been there this whole time?"
"I have." Reepicheep said with a nod, "and I'm sorry about your friend."
"If you are really sorry, then you'll help me out of here and stop yapping!" The voice said, a bit condescending. He sighed. "Sorry, I'm just in this bag you know."
Reepicheep smiled, "No trouble," he said, backing up, "here I come!" He ran across the T-bar and jumped just as his feet left the edge. He pulled out his sword and cut the bag open all in mid-air and entered it.
The first thing he noticed was that there was sand in it. A lot of it, the bag was essentially full of the stuff. In the shadow of the bag, shivering and cold, looking like a lost puppy, sat a Great Horned Owl. He was crying. Reepicheep walked over slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible.
"Can you move?" Reep asked.
The owl nodded, "I just want to sit here for a moment if you don't mind," he said, tears flowing down his broken face.
Reepicheep nodded, letting the poor soul wallow in self pity and misery.
"I'm sorry," the owl said, wiping away his tears with his wings, "I just," he sighed, "my best friend is dead."
He paused, and mouthed his last sentence. He stuttered, as if suffering from severe hypothermia, "M-m-y b-be-best- f-f-fri-friend is-d-d-d-dead."
The owl cried again, this time burying his head in his wings. The sand bag which was half empty thanks to Reep's hole, began to reveal the source of this owl's tears. In his talons, a bloody rotting corpse, disemboweled, and disfigured. Guts covered the owl's talons, the blood seeped into the bird's soul, making him weep and wallow.
"He died because of me!"
Reepicheep watched in horror, recognizing who the corpse was, his long lost twin brother. The owl turned his head towards the mouse, Reepicheep sighed and bowed his head.
"I'm assuming you knew him well?" Reepicheep asked.
The owl nodded, "He was my best friend."
"Best friend?" Reep looked at the bird, confused and betrayed, staring him down like the devil.
"If you were his best friend, then why is his lifeless body entangled in your merciless claws!" He drew his sword, feeling like a brave knight facing a sleeping deadly dragon.
"Put it away Mouse." The owl said, not wanting to talk to him.
"The name is Reepicheep!" he barked, "best you remember that."
The owl nodded, "I'll keep it posted."
"Well?" The Mouse asked, waiting for some kind of response.
"What?" The owl answered. "Oh," he continued, "I suspect you want to know my name so you can make me a war story?"
Reepicheep laughed at the answer, "You are a martyr only to your comrades and, if what you say is true, I'm assuming all of them are dead, just like-" he stopped himself. The owl was crying again, the owl lifted his wing, revealing his side. There was a large tattoo, an eight digit number, a mark of death, and the words Vogel der Juden which meant Bird of the Jews. Two snakes, engulfed by a malicious eagle, smiled deviously towards the owl and to Reep, who shuttered, he didn't have to know what any of these strange markings meant. He already knew.
"I'm sorry," Reep said, feeling ashamed and lowering his weapon. "I was unaware that you were a living martyr."
The owl laughed a bit, "Living martyrs don't exist Reepicheep."
"Then what does then?"
"Innocent angels." The owl answered, "For it is they that deserve your pity, not some war horse like me who's out of his prime."
"You fool yourself," Reepicheep said, "my brother always told me, 'Reepicheep, never sell anything short, for if you do, you'll never get its full worth. Full worth is an invaluable, once you lose it, you will never be able to reach it again.'" He paused, "So find your worth old boy!"
The owl smiled, "Your brother always said that."
He sighed, "It's true, though, I am past my prime, I'm not the bird I once was. I can't fight like I used to. Fly like I used to. I used to be able and touch his hand! His paintbrush would gently tickle my tail feathers and soften my beak. Now, I fear he has forgotten me. For who could ever love a monster like me?"
Reepicheep looked at the owl with pity in his voice and anger in his heart, but he swallowed that pride and saw underneath the apparent murderer before him, a broken soul that needed fixing.
"He hasn't forgotten you," Reepicheep said, using the best 'it's going to be alright' voice. "If he did then you wouldn't necessarily be here right now would you?"
The owl nodded. "Thanks for that."
"Don't mention it." Reepicheep said, pausing a moment. "How did you know him?"
The owl smiled. "Tilden and I met about three years ago in a concentration camp. The war was waging. Tilden was the doctor there. I was doing some undercover work for the allies. Well, anyway, the shooting started. Tilden was trying to save as many people as he could. I saved his life, thinking that he was a poor soul who I could just eat later. I didn't though, I looked into his eyes, and that's when I knew that he was different. He was there for a reason, to get people out. I had to admire him for that. I knew that he would never make it alone. So, I stayed with him."
He stood, looked out into the storm and cried. "Your brother always wanted to be buried out at sea."
Reepicheep nodded, taking everything in, "So, you saved his life?"
The owl shook his head. "He saved mine. Before that I was a criminal, a thief, a low dirty bastard. Now, thanks to him, I'm a cleaner bastard."
Reepicheep smiled. "He had that effect on people."
He sighed, "I never knew him much. We were really close when we were mouselings and then, everything changed after that."
The owl turned to him. "How so?"
Reepicheep shook his head, not wanting to tell the details, "My family was killed by a pack of wolves, Tilden and I were the only ones who made it out alive. We hunted those beasts down, travelling everywhere, meeting all sorts of people, it was apparently bigger than we thought though."
"Really?" The owl raised his eyebrows, "Conspiracy?"
Reepicheep nodded. "The wolves were working for the King of the North, Barnabas. A sneaky devilish dwarf who wanted to take power in Narnia for some stupid reason."
"What reason was that?" The owl asked.
"Oh something about his great-grandfather being banished from the land because he was just a farmer who rebelled against the King. A pitiful excuse really. If you rebel against the King that's one thing, but this particular King was a good one, one of the only good rulers in my years actually." Reepicheep said.
"Who rules now?" said the owl, who was a bit curious.
"The Great and Nobel King Caspian X. I sense a great future for him, I just hope I'll be alive long enough to see it through." Reepicheep replied with a smile.
"Do you fear Death, Reepicheep?" The owl asked, looking back at the mouse with questioning eyes.
"I fear like most if that's what you mean, but no, I don't feel or think about death, why, do you?" Reep asked.
The owl nodded. "He's the one who killed your brother, my friend. He almost killed me."
Reepicheep looked at the owl with a confused look on his face, thinking that they couldn't both be talking about the same thing.
"Death is real?" The mouse asked, with a slight step forward.
"He's as real as the stars, as deadly as the sea, and as vicious and diabolical as his father."
"Who is Death's father?" Reepicheep asked.
"Whom do you think!" The owl snapped, getting heated, "The same one who gave me these! The same one who put me in this damned bag! The same one who deceives the world with his tongue and his smile. He is very real! He hides behind a face of fear and hate, he's a coward who lets his devils on Earth do his dirty work. A man called Adolf Hitler is his father, but the son wields the sword and pulls the trigger. Death is very real."
"Wait, are you saying that Death killed my brother?" Reepicheep asked, a bit confused. He continued, "Death, the Grim Reaper, the Destroyer of Souls, is using humans to do his work?!"
The owl nodded. "He knocked me out, killed Tilden, and put me in here." He sighed, "The last thing Tilden said to me was, 'When Death kills me, do not weep for me, weep for the souls that are here, in this place, for they need your tears. Not me. When I am gone throw me in the sea and move on. Don't go looking for Death, for if you do, you will surely die.'"
He looked out into the storm, and flew out into the wind and rain without saying another word.
Lighting struck the mast just as the owl flew under. Reepicheep saw the bird fall towards the water, slowly, and alone, like a tree in forest. The mouse, in gallant effort, jumped through the hole and onto the T-bar, quickly racing to the other side in hopes to somehow stop the inevitable. In his mind he began counting.
"One, two, three, four, five, six..."
The owl fell into the water, making a visible, deathly splash. Simultaneously, Reepicheep jumped ship. As he dove, he thought about what he was doing, and how crazy it was. He knew that he couldn't save him. He knew that the owl was injured and drowning, injured and dead, or just plain dead.
"Whatever the outcome of this venture be," Reepicheep thought, his face hitting the water hard, if he survived it would bruise later.
"I won't let him die alone, this victim of war."
He swam downward, seeing the owl slowly fall into the increasing darkness of the violent sea, the currents tossing both of them around like a rag doll, but still Reepicheep pressed on downward, holding his breath and breathing slowly.
"This being who gave up everything only to be smitten down by Death is someone worth saving, risking your life for. In that case I was correct. He is a living martyr. A martyr for my brother, and for those under oppression, tyranny, war, fear. All of these things were written on him."
Reepicheep's lungs began to fill up with water, his vision became blurry and his ears popped from the pressure. He couldn't hold on much longer. He knew if he pressed on like this he would surely die before he reached the surface. His body wanted to quit, to breathe once again and forget this owl and let him be forgotten at the bottom of this ocean. Who cares, birds die every day, and this one was basically mental. Nonetheless he continued his mission.
"He was performing a funeral, a final request for my brother, who taught me everything. This bird taught me something that only him and Aslan could teach and I am just realizing it. Promises to brothers are unbreakable ones. I have made one to him, and I am certainly without question, going to keep it. Even if it means my death."
The owl landed at the bottom of the sea. His heart beating slowly. His weakness from the shock taking over. He was not content to die alone. He was tired of being alone. Being in the dark. The owl cried to himself but the ocean water made no difference. Just then he saw Reepicheep swimming towards him. Motioning to go upward, the owl shook his head. The mouse got below him and tried to lift him up, but the owl wouldn't budge. Reepicheep's lungs were screaming, his heart was beating a million miles a minute. His mind was racing and he began to panic, but his honor kept him there at the bottom of the sea, helping this owl. This random stranger, who seemingly killed his brother, this innocent angel in a bottomless, dark, pit. Reepicheep looked up and saw nothing but emptiness and sadness, the owl pushed him up, but Reep shook his head, his brain shutting down, but he didn't care, there was something he needed to say first, his eyes spoke to the owl, who had seconds left.
"I shall carry you gallant bird. Carry you to the stars if you wish, to the heavens.
Reepicheep quickly swam up, for he knew that the owl was gone.
"You said that you fear that He has forsaken you. That no one could love you because of the monster you are. I see no scales, no devil horns, no hatred filled eyes. For those are the qualities of monsters. You, nameless martyr, are not of these. You belong to the stars, and I shall carry you there."
The Mouse resurfaced, breathing heavily, and swimming to the ship with what little energy he had left. The storm had passed on.
"The stars call you now, fly on, fly on, fly on! Look not back to me but to Home, for the Gates welcomes you back. The angels, innocent or otherwise sing of your return. For you were born there and have come home. I pray glorious happiness for you!"
He scaled the ship and shook himself dry.
Reepicheep smiled and nodded at the sunlight. "So I say again, fly on! Go do all that you can for every soul you can. For it is then you reach greater heights. Beyond the seas. Beyond the stars. Beyond all else. I shall call you Hyperion, valiant bird, you nameless martyr. May you never fall from the heavens, and if you ever do, I shall be there to lift you up. I can promise you that."
The sun smiled down on The Mouse, who in turn, smiled more radiantly as he closed his eyes, taking a sigh.
"Venture onward gallant warrior." He opened his eyes. Below him he envisioned the owl, flying majestically from the water, droplets easing from his tail feathers, the wind shaking him dry and carrying up into the clouds. A smile on his face, a deep laugh, The Mouse pictured this owl, whom he named Hyperion, flying over the ship, smiling and waving at him before circling around again and flying up to reach his greater heights.
Lucy walked over to him, she was soaking wet, dripping with water.
"Reepicheep!" She called, thankful to see that he was alright. "What are you looking at?"
Reepicheep smiled, not really paying attention to her. "Just the sunrise Your Highness, the glorious sunrise."