Third chapter

Sorry for the delay, but I've been horrifyingly jet-lagged. And yes, Europe was awesome

Disclaimer: Own the rights? It'd be nice

Caspian was coming awake by degrees. He had always hated waking up. Sleep was so pleasant an experience. He hated to interrupt it for any reason. And he especially didn't want to interrupt his sleep now. He'd been dreaming of the woman again. It had been an amusing dream. She would repeat that word again – Soon – and then scamper off, laughing as she did so. He had finally caught up with her, and she'd smiled and brought her lips close to his own. And just when he was about to kiss her…

He'd woken up.

He blinked at the light all near him. Huh. Usually, it was much brighter in his room, because the sun was always high up in the sky by the time he woke up on his own. He blamed the blasted windows. It had been one of Miraz's cruel jokes, to put the castle's sleepyhead in the room that was the most brightly lit. So why wasn't it brighter now?

Oh right, he wasn't in the castle anymore. He nearly groaned out loud when he realized how much his head hurt. But then he remembered that he was not in his chambers. It would be unwise to let his captors know that he was conscious.

Were these captors friendlier than Miraz? Or would have been better off left in the woods, begging the soldiers for his life? Well, they clearly were not as bad as Miraz. They had bandaged his head.

The thought would have made him laugh, if one of the men's voices had sounded, loud and clear.

"Ugh. This bread is so stale."

"I'll just give him so soup then." Definitely better than Miraz. They would let him live long enough to eat.

"Well, I say I didn't hit him hard enough."

"Nikabrik, he's just a boy!"

Nikabrik? That was the man's name? It was the strangest name Caspian had ever heard, with the exception of a serving maid, who'd had he misfortune of being named Hepzibah. Now that was a truly terrible name.

"We can't kill him now! I just bandaged his head. It… it would be like murdering a guest."

"And how do you think his friends are treating their guests?" the man called Nikabrik demanded.

Caspian's heart raced. This Nikabrik was determined to kill him. He was clearly the more forceful one of the pair. He would get his way quickly enough. And then Caspian would die. He had to get out now, or he would never walk out on his own feet.

He made a mad dash for the door, noticing in passing that everything in the tiny little house was… well… tiny. The short man, probably the Nikabrik in question, let out a furious cry as Caspian shoved everything out of his way, and the tiny man pulled out a sword. Cursing himself for not thinking to grab his sword, Caspian grabbed a poker from the fireplace.

It was a very strange sight to see, with a tiny man with a huge sword, and a tall boy defending himself with a tool from the fireplace. It only lasted for a few jabs, before Nikabrik's companion – Was that a badger? – started shouting.

'Enough, Nikabrik! Enough!" the badger-like thing shouted.

"I still say we should have killed him when we had the chance," Nikabrik sneered.

"You know why we can't!" the thing, that Caspian refused to acknowledge, was a badger cried out.

Well, Caspian thought dryly, it seems I have found my ally.

"If we're taking a vote, I'm with him." As foolhardy as it was, Caspian couldn't resist taking a stab, verbal or otherwise, at the man.

"Enough, Nikabrik! Or do I have to sit on your head again?" It was obvious by the way Nikabrik pouted that the badger – Caspian couldn't deny it any longer; that was a badger – was completely serious.

"And you!" The badger glared at Caspian. "Look what you made me do! I spent half the morning on that soup."

Caspian could only stare as the badger walked over to the pantry, on its hind legs. What were these creatures?

"W-what are you?" Caspian asked shakily. He had a theory.

These were no ordinary creatures. This badger that could walk and talk and behave like a human – was he a Badger? A talking Badger of Narnia? A Narnian? If he was a Narnian, perhaps the Badger's violent little companion was a Narnian as well. He fit all the characteristics of a Black Dwarf.

"You-you're Narnians?" They did not deny this fact. They were behaving as if he had stated something simple, rather than drawing a conclusion that shattered his neat little world. "You're supposed to be extinct."

"Sorry to disappoint you," the dwarf stated sourly.

The Badger placed a bowl of soup on the minuscule table.

"Still hot," the animal said, almost maternally. Or at least, Caspian imagined it was maternal. He had no memory of his own mother.

As he looked at the soup, he felt a surge of irritation. He had just discovered the existence of a species that ought to be extinct, of an entire people even, and the Thing was speaking of soup?!

"Since when did we open a boarding house for Telmarine soldiers?" It would seem that Caspian was not the only one annoyed by the innocent bowl on the table.

"I'm not a soldier," he barked, his irritation for Nikabrik growing with every passing second. The presumptuous little pain. "I am Prince Caspian. The tenth."

He understood the shock in Nikabrik's eyes. But what he most certainly did not understand was why the Badger's eyes seemed to light up with something. If Caspian had not known any better. He would have called it hope. Why would a Narnian ever be happy to meet a Telmarine, even if it was a prince and not a soldier?

"Well, what are you doing here?" Was it Caspian's imagination, or had Nikabrik's voice softened, almost sounding caring.

Caspian considered the query. It was innocent enough. Surely, the knowledge of his uncle's son, his own cousin's birth, would not reach creatures living in the forest. It would be simple to give him an answer. To merely state such a fact was no difficult chore. But instead, he examined the truth. He had run away, because the only living family he had, wanted him to die. He had never believed Miraz cared for him, but he had no idea of the seething hate that had burst the previous night.

"Running away," he admitted quietly. Once the words began, they could not stop. "My uncle has always wanted my throne. I suppose I have only lived this long because he did not have an heir of his own."

"Well, that changes things," the badger eventually commented. What did this change?

"Yeah," Nikabrik added cruelly, "at least we don't have to kill you ourselves."

The young prince thought of the Dwarf's words. They wouldn't kill him. But Miraz certainly would. He wanted his child on the throne after him, and Caspian stood in the way. Caspian knew enough of his uncle to understand how Miraz dealt with obstacles. He dealt with them the same way all Telmarines did: by destroying them.

He thought of the kind-hearted badger, and the dwarf that had attacked the soldiers the night before. He didn't want them to get hurt. They would not be harmed if Miraz could rest easy. He made his decision.

"You're right." He grabbed his jerkin and his sword.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"My uncle won't stop until I am dead." He headed for the door.

"But you can't leave! You're meant to save us." Caspian turned around in confusion at the Badger's words. The Animal pulled the horn that Caspian had used the night before. "Don't you know what this is?"

"It is a horn," the young man stated, confused. "What is so important about a horn?"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" the Dwarf shouted. "What you got there, boy, is Queen's Susan's magical horn. The one in the prophecy."

"What prophecy?" Why did the Professor give him something so old and valuable? And how had he gotten his hands on it?

"Youngsters today, don't know nothing about prophecies," was muttered under Nikabrik's breath, along with a few colourful words that I will not repeat.

So the Badger, who is of course Trufflehunter, began to recite the prophecy, much like his friend had done far off, only a few hours before.

"In an age when hope has been lost

And dark-eyed tyrants rule the land,

A Prince of the line of Caspians,

Which over Narnia command,

Who fled from what was nearly his death,

Will use what was nearly his final breath

To blow in the horn of the ancient Queen

And our ancient rulers will soon be seen.

A massive war will then go down

To help the Prince regain his crown"

Caspian could only stare in shock for a minute.

"Y-y-you mean, I am to help you? To save you?"

"Along with the Kings and Queens of Old. If you are truly the one from the prophecy, then you called them last night. They could be here in Narnia right now." Trufflehunter looked terribly excited by the prospect, and even Nikabrik had a smile peeking out.

"So what must I do?" Caspian inquired, feeling self-conscious. He would meet the legendary rulers, and they were to help him!

"We must wait for them to come to us," Trufflehunter announced. "I'll make some soup while we wait."

"Absolutely not," the prince insisted, surprised by the force in his voice. "I refuse to sit wait like a sitting duck. The soldiers may find me first. And the Kings and Queens of Old have no idea where we are. They would not knock on every door, searching for us."

Trufflehunter tried to persuade him otherwise. He didn't think it was safe for the boy, all alone in the forest. But Caspian did not acknowledge his pleas. This was his quest, and he would do as he saw fit.

Nikabrik was the one to speak up.

"Telmarine's got a point," he commented, and Caspian soured at his new nickname. "If he wants to go off, he should. But he's got to bring us with him. The fool can't fight off a tree branch, let alone an army. And we need him alive. You're of no use to us dead, so we're coming with you."

"There is no way. It could be dangerous out there, and I would not wish to put you in danger." Caspian looked over at the scowling Black Dwarf. "Well, perhaps it would not be so terrible to put you in danger, but I would not harm your friend."

"Think, boy," Nikabrik growled at him. "You're a Telmarine, and when you're in the middle of the forest, away from your people, who do you thinks going to be the one in danger? You'd be killed before you could pull out the horn for evidence."

"I am no coward," came the young man's determined reply. "I can brave these woods on my own. And that," here he grabbed the horn off of the table, "is precisely what I will do."

He rushed out before they could stop him.

He heard a rustle, and he rolled his eyes. Did those two honestly believe they were being subtle? They had been trailing him ever since he had let their hut, and he was really starting to get annoyed. He turned around and glared.

"I can hear you."

If he had not been so peeved, he would have found their attempts at hiding quite comical. Nikabrik's stomach was far too round to be covered by the tree trunk.

The Badger was the first to voice his concerns.

"I just think we should wait for the Kings and Queens," he implored, but all he got for a response was a withering glare.

Caspian mentally cursed the two. They were supposedly so happy, and were calling him their saviour, and yet they clearly thought him incapable, didn't believe him to be enough. Were the ancient monarchs who had abandoned their own people actually more trustworthy than he was in the Narnians' eyes?

"Fine, go then!" Trufflehunter's response was amusingly huffy. "See if the others will be as understanding!"

Others?

"Or maybe I'll come with you," Nikabrik added, eagerly jogging up to his side. "I want you see you explain things to the Minotaurs."

"Minotaurs? They're real?" Caspian asked incredulously.

"Not to mention big," the irritating Dwarf added smugly.

"Huge."

Caspian was fascinated. He had realized that the Badger and the Dwarf were alive, but he had not considered whether anyone else would be.

"What about Centaurs?" he asked eagerly. "Do they still exist?"

"The Centaurs will fight on your side, in all likelihood," and Caspian felt a flash of hope. "But there's no telling what the others might do."

Caspian thought of his favourite nonhuman character from his professor's stories. The Great Lion.

"What about Aslan?"

The odd turned to look at him.

"How do you know so much about us?" Nikabrik's voice was heavy with suspicion.

"Well, stories." He should think it obvious.

"Your father told you stories of Narnia?"

Caspian tried not to wince. But it was difficult to think of his father.

"No, my professor." He could tell that the pair was curious, ready to ask some more questions, but they were questions he could not answer.

"I am sorry, but these are not the questions you should be asking me." He picked up his pace, trying desperately to keep his emotions in check.

"Wait," Trufflehunter sniffed the air, looking worried. "Human."

"Him?" Nikabrik asked, detection the fear in his friend's eyes.

"No. Them!"

There were Telmarine soldiers running towards him. It was all he could do to yell at his friends to run, before taking off himself. He tried not to turn around as the crossbow bolts whizzed past his face. He was afraid that if he looked at the men, he would recognize them, and the kind men whom he had spent his childhood with would be the ones about to murder him.

He heard a cry of pain behind, and saw Trufflehunter fall to the ground, a bolt sticking out of his leg. He instinctively ran to him, pushing Nikabrik out of the way. It would be easier for Caspian to run with him.

"Take it," Trufflehunter whispered weakly, handing him the horn Caspian had dropped during his mad dash. "It's far more important than I am."

Caspian frantically stuck the horn in his belt, and then he slung the wounded Animal over his shoulder. He ran to Nikabrik, and handed him his companion. Caspian was not going to run anymore. He would fight the men, or die honourably.

He saw a soldier aim his crossbow directly at him. That was it. The man could not miss him even if he tried. He waited for the soldier to shoot. But the man never got the chance to do so. Because at that moment, he keeled over, dead.

He had a bright red arrow in his chest.

Someone, who was armed with a bow and arrow, pushed him out of the way. The archer moved past him in a blur.

"Get away from them!" came a scream. A woman's scream. This had obviously shocked the soldiers as much as it had shocked Caspian.

Whoever she was, she was good. She shot the first soldier to regain his wits before he'd finished raising his bow at her. But Caspian felt a stab of pity towards her as the men all aimed at her, ready to kill.

At that moment, Caspian watched as two men came from the left and right sides of the Telmarines, wielding swords. They ran towards them, protecting the woman and, indirectly, himself. As the soldiers pulled their blades to the two men, the woman started shooting again. And any adversary that set his sights on the woman was met with the sharp end of a sword. It was a perfectly choreographed dance of death, and Caspian could only watch entranced, until a small girl pulled him to the ground.

"Get down!" she cried.

After thirty seconds, the noise stopped. Nikabrik, Trufflehunter, and Caspian all raised their heads and looked around.

The two men, who were actually just boys, were wiping off their swords, which were covered in blood, heading back to the group. The young prince looked over at the bodies. Most of them had arrows in their chest, but a few had been slain by the boys. The woman had her back to them, headed over to retrieve her arrows.

The younger boy, who had curiously pale skin for one with such dark eyes and hair, spoke first, a giant smile on his face.

"Well, that went rather well, wouldn't you agree?"

The little girl spoke up.

"Must you smile so much? You could at least have a little respect for the men you killed!"

The blond boy piped in.

"Respect for them? Respect for Telmarine soldiers seeking to kill Narnians? Absolutely not!"

Wait, they knew the Dwarf and the Badger were Narnians? How was that possible?

"Well, at least Su has a little respect," the little girl retorted. "Right, Su?"

The girl known as Su just nodded to acknowledge the child's comment, and continued tugging her arrows out of the soldiers. When at last she finished, she started to turn towards them, and then froze. There was a rustle in the tall grass. Everyone turned warily to see who was advancing, but Caspian saw no one.

The rustle grew closer, and everyone looked worried. And then a brown streak came leaping out, crying triumphantly. The streak landed on the girl Su's chest, having succeeded in sending her falling to the ground. Caspian looked closer.

It was a mouse! Well, judging by the feathered headband and the rapier he was branding, it was most likely a Mouse.

"Choose your last words carefully, Telmarines! The five of you are finished!"

"You are a mouse." Caspian stated this with incredulity. Why must everything be strange in this forest?

"Ugh! Always the same thing! Do you think I've forgotten my species? Well, no matter. My sword shall speak for itself."

"Reepicheep!" Trufflehunter cried frantically, laying a protective hand on Caspian. "You can't kill him!"

"And why not?"

"Because he's the one who blew the horn!" Everyone looked at Caspian, except for Su, who couldn't crane her neck and was trapped beneath Reepicheep.

"Well, all right. He may live. But these four are finished."

"You can't kill them," came a gruff voice. Trumpkin appeared from behind them.

"Trumpkin?" Nikabrik seemed shocked. "You're alive!"

"That's all well and good, but why should they live?"

"Because they're the ones he was calling."

Everyone stared at him. He sighed and elaborated.

"They're the ones the horn summons, they're the Kings and queens of Old."

"Aslan preserve us, it's true!" Reepicheep cried. He pointed to them each in turn. "High King Peter! And King Edmund! And Queen Lucy!"

"And the one you're standing on is Queen Susan," Edmund added in, with a sly smirk. This was just too funny.

Reepicheep seemed horrified with himself.

"Oh, Your Majesty! I meant no disrespect."

"It's fine, my good sir," Susan replied patiently. "But would you mind taking a few steps back?" Reepicheep looked down and saw that he was standing squarely between Susan's breasts. He blushed deeply, in the way only a mouse could blush. He stepped back carefully, before scampering off of her.

"My most sincere apologies, Your Majesty."

"Oh, relax, Reepicheep," Edmund cut in, smiling again. "You're hardly the first knight to try and get Susan on her back. I dare say that you're the first one that's managed."

Caspian was shocked, and not just by the Just King's lewd comment. He had expected regal, imposing figures, that clearly showed their true age, or at least in their thirties, as they had last been seen. Instead, there were four playful adolescents. This was quite a surprise to him, and he had to admit that he was a bit disappointed.

"Is something wrong?" Queen Lucy asked him, noting his expression.

"Well, I had thought you'd be older."

"Well if you like, we can come back in a few years." The High King's tone was playful, and Caspian was relieved. He had not offended them.

The Gentle Queen was lifting herself up.

"Could someone give me a hand?" she requested, slightly light-headed from being knocked over. Caspian automatically lifted her up, and then froze at what he saw.

It was her. Her.

The woman he had dreamt about, the one that had filled his every thought. He had been dreaming of Susan. And she was even more wonderful than he could have dreamt, which surprised him. Looking at her now, the midday sun hitting her face just right, he could see her more clearly. She was incredible. It was all he could do to stop himself from reaching out and stroking her face.

Susan's breath hitched as she looked at him. Him. The handsome man from her dreams, it was the Prince Caspian they'd been so desperately seeking. He was unbelievable. The hand he'd offered up to her was soft and warm, and the arm she had grabbed to steady herself felt muscular beneath her fingertips. She was acutely aware that her hands burned in the loveliest way possible where they touched him.

They stared at each other, shocked, with an entirely new emotion brewing between them. They were totally oblivious to those that surrounded them.

Peter looked furious, the slight respect he had felt for his new ally slipping away. He had thought this Caspian a good man, and yet here he was, staring at his sister, just like all the others! He glared at Caspian. His trust in him was gone. Just like that.

After a moment, the pair broke apart, trying not to smile. But this was wonderful! A grin twitched at the Telmarine's lips. He had found his dream girl. He smiled. This was what she had meant by Soon.

Caspian had no idea how many things were going to happen soon.

Okay, that's where things start to alter.

I will be doing some editing, adding things in, and throwing one big thing out.

I hope you like it. Review if you do! If you don't, well review anyways, but lie and give the opposite of your opinion. Lie right to my face. That'll show me!