Hey everyone! I'm Red Rae Rae, and this is my first Narnia fanfic, which I'm super stoked about! However, this is not my first fanfic. I have 2 up in Fruits Basket (anime), 1 in Newsies (musical), 1 in High School Musical (musical, obviously), and 1 in Fantastic 4 (superhero movie). So if any of those appeal to you, I'd be honored if you'd check them out as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my Narnia fic. PLEASE leave reviews! I love getting feedback! It's always wonderful to hear back from your audience what they're thinking of your writing and such. I've tried to write all of the cannon characters as realistically and as "in character" as possible, so I hope you'll be pleased with the way I've kept their characters. Anyway, enough rambling. Consider this: what if Aslan had allowed Peter and Susan to return to Narnia one last time? That question is just about to be answered. Oh, and just in case it wasn't clear, this story starts after Prince Caspian and is going off of the movie. Yes, I have read the book, but I just decided to write this story continuing off of the movie instead of the book. Anyway, enjoy, and R&R!!

Only Human

Chapter 1

"Let me go, your highness; it is too dangerous a mission for you to risk your life, and Narnia needs you too greatly to lose you now."

Caspian bent his head to look at the small dwarf at his side. Although he tried to hide his emotion behind the red whiskers on his face, tinted gray over the years, and his firm features, Caspian knew Trumpkin was extremely worried about him and his well-being. Still, he was determined to put his life on the line for his country – his and his alone. After all, he was the king.

"No, Trumpkin, no one is going in my stead. I've made up my mind; besides, between the two of us I'm the better rider," Caspian replied.

"Oh, that's not another crack about dwarves, is it?" Trumpkin sighed, rolling his eyes as Caspian chuckled.

"Take is anyway you like," he responded, placing a helmet on top of his brunette head.

"Sire," a voice said on his other side. He turned to look down at the badger touching his foot, the nearest thing to it from where Caspian sat atop his horse. "Be careful."

"I will, Trufflehunter," he promised. "I will return by nightfall." With that he kicked Destrier and the two flew out of the royal stables into the woods of Narnia.

No sooner had he entered the woods then two men on horseback, hidden within the brush, took off after him. They were dressed in armor just as he was, however their armor did not beat the Narnian emblem. Caspian urged Destrier on faster, panting with exhaustion and fear. Suddenly two more soldiers appeared from behind two trees right in front of him. He had no time to react, only enough time to draw his sword to block the blow from the soldier on his right. The strike was so forceful it propelled him backward off of Destrier, who continued running. Caspian now lay flat on the forest floor, his sword resting inches from his fingers, but before he could reach for it one of the soldiers who had been behind him jumped down from his horse and kicked the sword away from his hand. The four men surrounded him as he backed up into the base of a tree, and one of the soldiers pointed his own sword right at his face.

"Well, what do we have here? King Caspian himself," one chuckled.

"Alone and unarmed," another added.

"What do you think we should do with such a find?"

"I believe King Midas would be quite interested in our find, don't you?"

"Quite interested," one nodded.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, four long vines of ivy shot out of the air and wrapped themselves around the men's necks. They gasped for breath desperately but eventually ceased to move and fell to the ground dead. Caspian scanned his surroundings nervously, not daring to move. The ivy begn to unwind itself from around the four soldiers' necks slowly until it was floating in midair in before him. As he watched the ivy formed itself into the figure of a woman. A flash of bright light and a beautiful young woman with flowing red hair, dressed in nothing but a small green dress made of ivy leaves, stood before him.

"Are you all right, my lord?" she asked, bending down and offering him her hand to help him up. He took it, still slightly cautious, but once he had risen to his full height she fell to her knees in reverence.

"It is I who should be bowing at your feet, my lady, for you have saved my life," he said. "Rise." She came to her feet slowly.

"What are you doing in the forest, my king? The soldiers of Ronstadt are posted all throughout these woods. They would love nothing better than to take you captive until they have forced us to surrender," the girl said worriedly.

"I know, but I must deliver these battle plans to our troops at the How," Caspian replied. Without a word the redhead bent down to peer into a tiny hole in the tree behind her which looked like the window to a home.

"Pattertwig!" she called. The large squirrel emerged from the hole and climbed onto her shoulder obediently.

"Yes, Ivy?" he questioned.

"King Caspian needs important battle plans delivered to Aslan's How immediately," she instructed. Upon the words "King Caspian," the squirrel suddenly noticed the man standing before him.

"My liege." He bowed low from his position on Ivy's shoulder. "I will move with the greatest of speed."

"No one is delivering these plans for me. I thank you for your eagerness to help, but I must do this myself," Caspian said.

"Your highness," Ivy said softly, taking a step closer to him and touching his hand tenderly. "Narnia cannot afford to lose anyone, most of all her king."

"All right," he said finally after a long period of silence. He pulled a scroll of parchment out of his belt and reluctantly handed it to Pattertwig.

"Don't worry, your majesty; I will not fail you," Pattertwig promised as he bounded off of Ivy's shoulder onto a nearby tree branch and took off through the forest.

"Pattertwig will deliver the plans safely to the How; you can count on that," Ivy said, staring into the woods in the direction the squirrel had taken.

"I do not doubt it," Caspian said, placing a hand on her shoulder as she started slightly and turned to face him. "Thank you once again for saving my life."

"Narnia would be lost without you, King Caspian," she replied. "But you must not linger here any longer." She whistled a faint tune as a small doe leapt into view until she was standing right beside the girl. "Topaz will deliver you safely back to the palace."

"It would be an honor, my king," the soft voice of the young doe said as she bent her head in a bow.

"How can I possibly repay you for your many kindnesses?" Caspian asked, stunned, staring at Ivy.

"I haven't done anything to deserve any kind of payment, only remained loyal to my country and my king," she replied. "Now go."

"I will never forget you, Ivy," he said as he mounted Topaz and picked up his sword.

"Go!" Ivy cried urgently as Topaz galloped off in the direction of the castle. "Go."