The Wood Children and Their Adventures in Narnia

Disclaimer: The disclaimer that is highly irritating to write stands for the whole story. I don't own The Chronicles of Narnia, however much I wish I did. However, I do own any OCs that may appear.

Summary--Important--: At about the same time the Pevensies fall into Narnia in our world, the Wood children--Ethan, Anne, James, and Esme--come into Narnia a different way. After four years of peace, there is trouble in Narnia. Queen Susan has blown her horn hopefully, wanting help finding the bandits that are raiding Narnia's villages--bandits that are trained warriors that have huge numbers and are against the rule of the four Pevensies. The Woods have no clue how they can help, though. They don't even know why they were chosen to be in Narnia. Will their mission be successful?

Rating: T, for later chapters

Pairings: I suppose I'll have some romance between all the characters, but it really won't evolve around that. It'll just be small parts and stuff. So… Peter/Anne, Susan/Ethan, Edmund/Esme, Lucy/James.

Warnings: May be AU. Characters may sometimes appear OOC. Also may be Movie-verse at times, but I have read all of the books.

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Ok. Well, I really wanted to write something during the time of the Pevensie's reign, and well…you see?

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A loud, long note was blown on a horn. The note echoed throughout the halls of Cair Paravel. Some people stopped what they were doing in shock. Some wondered what had made the sound. Some wondered who had blown the horn. But most were worried about why the horn was blown—if they didn't know already. If they did know, their suspicions about how bad the situation with the bandits was worsened. Terribly. Was it so bad that she had to blow her horn?

Was the state of affairs so dreadful that Queen Susan had to blow her horn?

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Four children were at their Aunt's house. She lived in the country, with no children of her own. When the Wood children had been evacuated because of the bombing in London, she had joyously agreed to have them stay at her cottage. (It was actually more a mansion than 'cottage', but it seemed so homey despite it's large size.) So far, the Wood children had had a fantastic time.

Ethan, the eldest, was eighteen and probably would be fighting in the war, but he had never been one to battle, fight, and cause commotion. He was more of the silent-yet-strong, intelligent, observant man. Still, it had been extremely difficult to keep him from being drafted. But the Woods were worried enough with their father fighting.

Next was Anne, a girl of seventeen who was quite beautiful. It was mostly natural beauty, too. She was simply a kind, caring, warm, loving person that everyone seemed to trust. She was responsible and for that, people saw her as very mature and grown-up. And she didn't really try to act like that. But she could be a bit shy, and got worried too easily. Strangely enough, she had never gotten into make-up and all those other nasty things girls her age were immensely interested in.

James and Esme were twins who were fifteen years old. They had a similar personality. They were mischievous, yet talkative. They were artistic, feared the underground, and loved trying new things. Basically, they always got themselves into trouble. The only difference was that Esme loved dancing while James thought it was a bore. And that didn't really affect their relationship. They were still as close as possible.

One day the four were outside. Ethan and Anne were reading, but Anne was also carefully watching James and Esme, who were climbing trees. James was considerably higher up than Esme, but that was because his sister had to deal with her hair getting caught on braches—it was super long, and curly, so it was only natural that it was so bothersome. She didn't have to worry about her clothes, though, because they were so secluded she could wear men's clothes at times like this.

Suddenly, while yanking a curl free from a twig, Esme lost her grip on the tree and fell. "Ah!" she shouted. When she hit the ground, she rubbed her head. "Ow," she grumbled. "That hurt."

Anne and Ethan had dropped their books and were kneeling by their sister. James had looked down from his high perch when he had heard a loud thump! And soon he was quickly scrambling down branches, practically dropping from one to the other. He had great balance and was down on the ground in seconds, looking dizzy but more concerned about his twin. (Who was, actually, seven minutes and forty-three seconds younger than him.)

"Esme?! Are you alright? That was a nasty fall you had there." James was watching his sister, with big eyes and an apprehensive expression than only Anne usually wore. He looked quite different than usual.

Esme sat up and shook her head a bit, but not to say 'no'. She was just clearing her mind. But upon seeing her siblings confused looks, she snapped, "Oh, I didn't mean that I wasn't feeling perfectly fine, I was just getting my bearings. It was just a clumsy fall, honestly. You guys get too—hey! That hurt! Who pinched me?"

Her siblings looked at her, more confused than ever. "No one pinched—ow! James! Now is no time to poke me!" Ethan looked very irritated, and bothered by his brother's behavior. Both Esme and Anne agreed that it was an immature act. But James looked scandalized.

"I'm not that childish! And Anne—don't look at me like that. You just pinched me."

By this point, they all got into a huge mess. Anne looked uncharacteristically angry. Ethan was anything but clam and collected. James and Esme were both accusing everyone but themselves of pinching, poking, and kicking. It was a huge squabble. But the strange thing was, it only lasted a few seconds.

Soon enough, the four hit hard ground. Esme's first thought was: 'You've got to be joking. Hitting the ground twice in a row? My head hurts.' Everyone else thought: 'Where are we?' It was a justified question too, because they weren't in their aunt's yard anymore. They were in a huge forest that had grand trees with great, bushy leaves. Birds chirped. There were squirrels and chipmunks to be heard in the trees. Long shadows prevented other animals from being seen. There was also a slight breeze, and all the Wood children soon had goose bumps, so it must have been Autumn. It was an obvious warning that they weren't in their world, because it was the hottest part of summer there.

Also in the clearing was a lamppost. It was quite simple, but seemed almost…eerie. All the children sensed it was of great importance, even though there was nothing unusual about it to suggest that it was special. Still, they could feel that everything in this new world was greater, stronger, and bolder. They also felt more special, confident, and majestic. They all straightened up a bit.

"The trees are so big…" Anne mused.

"Yeah," James said. "Almost as big as Ethan's middle." He was in turn whacked on the head. He grimaced, and Anne looked at him with her classic 'you're so immature' look. He shrugged sheepishly.

"James, you have got to be the most irresponsible person in the world." Esme sighed and shook her head, for once more composed and mature than her twin. She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and managed to look remarkably like her older sister. Ethan and James snickered. (But Ethan was also trying to look responsible, so his face was twisted into a really odd expression. Anne snickered at that.)

"Which world?" James asked, just to get on his sister nerves. She frowned and stuck out her tongue at him. The rest of the Wood children laughed. They were very much at ease with their surroundings already. It was something about the air, James thought. It was so pure. He thought it was interesting that this world made his siblings so bold and regal and clam…not that Ethan wasn't calm all the time…

"You know," James remarked. "We still have no clue where we are. I wonder…"

His siblings looked at him, curiosity showing on their innocent faces.

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Susan put down her horn and looked at her siblings. The four were standing in a circle, looking very regal and royal (because they were). But they let signs of worry show through their faces. Lucy was wringing her hands behind her back, Edmund eyes were glancing around him, and Peter's right foot was tapping the ground nervously. Susan herself was biting her lip, looking the least composed out of all of her siblings. Everyone got apprehensive whenever her horn was blown for some reason. Everyone felt very expectant, and rightly so.

After about five minutes Lucy couldn't stand it anymore. "What's supposed to happen?! All we've done for the past eternity is stand here! I mean, if something's going to happen maybe it won't happen here. Let's go look." Lucy sounded very exasperated. Out of all of her siblings, she was the most talkative. She couldn't stand long, awkward, drawn-out silences. They were so…frustrating. She preferred being at peace with her mind. It was very bothersome to been fighting half of your brain with the other half, she thought.

Edmund looked at her seriously, even though he was telling a joke. "Well, Lu, I think it's supposed to call for help. That's why we blew it in the first place." Lucy glared at him and put her hands on her hips.

"Lu's right, Ed," Peter said. "Standing around is not going to help. We should send search parties throughout Narnia, and see if we can find who—or what—we called for. C'mon."

"I never said she was wrong," Edmund muttered.

Susan didn't get into her siblings petty argument.

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A couple hours later a few search parties had been sent out from Cair Paravel with a special mission: they had to find who—or what—Susan had called for. The royal children themselves were preparing to leave on a search. The would be going through the Western Woods looking for anything that might be of significance. In other words, they were looking for the same thing the search parties were.

After quickly downing a hot meal of soup and bread, the Kings and Queen hurriedly washed (their search would probably take a few days, and even though they could probably ask any of their subjects if the could wash, they didn't want to smell terrible (actually, Peter and Edmund didn't mind, but Susan and Lucy made them wash against their will)). After that they prepared their mounts and rode off together. It wasn't a time of war (and Philip wasn't around), so they couldn't ride Talking Horses—only dumb beasts. But the four rode these horses regularly, so it was nothing new.

"Well." Susan finally spoke. "Should we stay together or split up?"

Edmund and Lucy didn't answer her, knowing the question wasn't really for them. But Peter thought about it for a few seconds. "I'd be more comfortable knowing where you all are, quite frankly. 'S that alright with you two?" The last question was directed towards the younger Pevensies.

"Of course!" Lucy exclaimed. "And on the way, we can visit Beaversdam and we can talk to the squirrels and have lunch with the dwarves! We can go to Mr. Tumnus' house and race each other! We could visit Lantern Waste!" Her siblings all groaned.

"By the Lion's Mane, Lu. We're have a mission. We're not going to be going for a joyride. You know, perhaps it'd be better if only Peter and I left. Whenever you two go out, we get into countless parties and brunches and all that other silly stuff that wastes time. Ugh." Edmund had a disgusted look on his face.

Lucy looked a bit hurt. Peter took pity on her. Sort of.

"Well, I do fancy the idea of visiting Lantern Waste. For some reason, I always liked that place. But Ed's the right one now, Lu. Whenever you…and Susan…go out, you especially, we barely have time to get anything done because of all the parties. Please don't accept so many invitations."

Lucy seemed a bit less offended. Peter was always better at being kind and gentle than Edmund was. But she was still a bit miffed about something.

"But Peter, I can't just refuse to have tea with everyone! That's rude! Our subjects would think we dislike them or something horrid like that! Can't we just accept a few invites? Please?"

Peter just rolled his eyes and relented.

"Can we please just get going? Honestly, you three are so slow sometimes. You end up procrastinating most of the time. We do not have the time to tolerate that." Susan was quite impatient. Her siblings just rolled their eyes at her, thinking it was totally typical of her to act that way.

Then Peter said, "Let's go." And they were off.

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The Wood children had been in the new world for two days. During the day, they wandered around, trying to find anything (more specifically, trying to find a way out of the woods). They hadn't found anything the first day, but the second day they found that the animals could talk in the new, strange world they had landed in. The four enjoyed conversations with the pleasant little animals, and actually learned a lot.

The first thing they learned was that they were in a place called Narnia. There were no humans in the entire country except for the four rulers (they found that weird), and they were really only teenagers. And siblings. That part really mixed Anne up, because she hadn't heard of anything like that in books she read. It was always either one of two rulers, and they were usually married. Narnia certainly was different.

They were also invited to eat and stay with plenty of hospitable creatures. They only accepted the first offer, and they stayed with a lovely faun named Mr. Tumnus that night. He served them tea too, much to their surprise. They had thought Narnia quite different from England and hadn't expected similarities like that. It was a nice shock, though. It was like having part of home. By now, they missed it and were extremely worried about their aunt, who was probably devastated by their sudden disappearance.

The morning after the night they had stayed with the charming faun, he announced that he would be bringing the four Wood children to meet the kings and queens because having humans in Narnia was very rare, unless they were from Archenland or some other country and were visiting the royal siblings. Humans from the other world were basically unheard of, besides the royals, so it was extremely important that the kings and queens knew they were there.

So the kind faun opened the door and…came face-to-face with four humans.

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"Mr. Tumnus!" Lucy exclaimed in delight. After much cajoling, she had finally managed to get her siblings to visit Mr. Tumnus. She was actually surprised it took so much to even get them to come, since they all delighted in their dear friend's company, but it didn't really matter because she knew in the end they would cave and come with her to visit their beloved faun friend.

She was also mildly shocked that he had opened the door before she even knocked, because he didn't have any windows, but he went out a lot so she figured he was heading out. Which made her wonder if he had time for them, but their comrade always seemed to have time for them.

"My kings and queens!" he said, surprised. He bowed, and the four rulers saw that behind them were four children about their own ages. They jumped a bit, stunned that there were four humans in his company. The same thought crossed all four's mind at the same time: Are these kids the ones who we called for?

"Dear Tumnus, who are these children with you?" Susan asked curiously, looking over his shoulder to look at the four people who were standing awkwardly in strange garments and looked terribly out-of-place. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy expressed the same interest. Their family had always been a inquisitive, prying bunch.

"Their names are Ethan, Anne, James, and Esme. They say, and I quote, that they are from you're world. I met them last night at Lantern Waste and brought them to my cozy home for the night to rest. I was going to bring them to Cair today, actually. I must say, I am most astonished that they are here." The Pevensies eyes were glued to Mr. Tumnus as he spoke.

They turned away, and looked at the four other children. Even though the Pevensies had to be close in age to Ethan, Anne, James, and Esme, the felt older. Ruling a country tends to do that to one.

Finally Peter cleared his throat, and stated, "I think that these are the people we've called and have been looking for." He looked every bit like the royal person he was. The Woods felt terribly inferior and childish compared to the four noble children in front of them. Even more so than they thought they would with adults, because they were so composed, and…they were their age. It made them really respect children who were rulers but still so young. (Even though they had heard the rulers were young, they hadn't expected them to be this young.) Ethan and Anne looked particularly in awe that there was a little girl, seemingly only fourteen, who ruled a country.

"Aye, Brother," Edmund calmed said. "I do believe you are correct." The words sounded so kingly and professional that the Woods felt even tinier. The old-sounding words didn't help at all.

"You called and have been looking for…us?" Esme asked incredulously.

"Yes!" Lucy cried with delight. "You must tell us how you got here! It must be a wonderful tale! And there's so much else I just must know. Tell us everything!"

"Lucy," Susan scolded. "That was completely unbecoming. First they should be taken to Cair Paravel, and then we can ask them how they got into Narnia. It's called common courtesy…Your Majesty." Lucy just grinned, because, really, she didn't care what Susan had said, only that she had joked around a bit. That was as rare as hearing of a centaur that couldn't read the stars. Well, not that rare, but it wasn't often.

"Oh, come on you two. Let's just get going. Thank you for dealing with our unsuitable behavior, Mr. Tumnus, dear friend." Peter was shaking his head at his sisters' bickering. He then smiled warmly at the Woods. "Please, accept our invitation to come to Cair Paravel."

"What's Cair Paravel?" James asked curiously.

No one spoke for a few minutes. Then, finally, someone said, "Our palace. Our home."

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