Okay, so I really like this chapter for some reason. I dunno. Maybe it's coz I like Trufflehunter a lot. Anyway, thanks to my reviewers: Queen O' Randomness, Aramoorn, and Sky-Pirate325 for your support. It's always greatly appreciated!

Now, without further ado, I give you chapter numero tre.

Chapter Three: A Little Tea Goes a Long Way

No matter what someone tells you, I swear on my life that, when they're scared, the only person they want to see is their mother. I know. I have two case studies going on simultaneously in my mind. The first one is Dana, who has the most fantastic relationship with her mom that they can't go one day apart without missing each other. They're best friends, and I'm a little jealous.

The second study is of myself. Unfortunately, the fact was that no matter how hard I hoped or prayed that I could wake up in my warm bed and sprint down the hall to my mommy, it wasn't happening.

Instead, I was still whizzing through the woods on the back of a speeding (and, in my opinion, totally out of control) horse, holding onto a faceless stranger who was obviously on the run from the law or something. And I was scared.

There were shouts coming from behind us. Men with similar accents to Tall Dark and Dangerous were yelling things like "This way!" and "Over here- I saw him over here!" I guess in a way I'd picked the lesser of two evils. In the middle of a particularly dark night in a particularly dark forest, if the pursuing men had seen me they wouldn't have known the difference between me and the guy they were really after. At least, that's what I assume my escort meant when he said the words "you may be killed" and "shoot on sight." So my choices were A: wait around to get shot, or B: ride off deeper into the creepy woods with the crazy man on the horse.

Hard decision, but since the former held a promise of death and the latter only suggested it, I chose to go with him. Of course, the experience left something to be desired. It was worse than any roller coaster I'd ever been on (which isn't many because I'm terrified of heights), and Sir Lancelot didn't seem very confident. He kept looking over his shoulder like he expected the cavalry to be gaining on him. They probably were, but I wasn't about to turn around and check. I was too busy thinking about how stupid it was that he kept looking back while riding through a forest full of unexpected obstacles. I closed my eyes and hoped that there weren't any particularly low branches in front of us.

Of course there were. I didn't actually realize we'd been knocked off the horse until we hit the ground, and even then I was distracted by how heavy he was, since I was the lucky one to land between him and the forest floor. Hardly a moment later his weight disappeared. I sat up and tried to blink the stars from my eyes. The combination of the fall and being crushed had left me dazed and achy. My left shoulder in particular had the worst complaint. When I finally regained my senses, I saw the shape of the horse running away from where I sat, dragging something behind it. Great. There goes my ride and it's taking the driver with it.

I scrambled to my feet and glanced behind me. The shadows of the hunting party in the distance were still coming, so I did what any other sane but slightly delirious person would do in that sort of situation- I ran. More specifically, I ran after the guy and the horse. Hey, when I'm in a strange foreign place with no idea how or why I'm there and men with long range weaponry are headed right towards me, I figured it might be wise to stick with the guy who'd risked his own skin to stick around long enough to get me, a hysterical teenage girl, to safety. It seemed that he'd managed to detach himself from the runaway beastie, and the horse continued on into the darkness. Trying to ignore the rocks digging into my bare feet, I focused instead on the motionless heap of the faceless rider. By the time I'd caught up with him he had sat up, and was rubbing the back of his head with one hand. I dropped down onto my knees beside him, gasping for breath and thankful that my tears had temporarily subsided.

"Are…you…okay?" I asked. He looked up as if he was only just noticing my arrival. A sliver of moonlight fell across his right eye, and I noticed that it was somewhat exotically shaped.

"Yes. Are you?" The concern in his voice surprised me.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

A creaking noise next to us drew our attention to a huge tree I hadn't noticed before. At the base of it, what looked like a small door opened and light flooded out onto the surrounding roots. Two small figures appeared from within, and as they drew closer I saw that they both had unkempt coils of hair and long, scraggly beards. "Behind me," my stranger muttered (Everything around me was strange, but since this person actually seemed concerned for my well-being I decided that he was deserving of a slightly more personal title…in my mind.). I didn't understand what he meant until he'd grabbed my arm and gave me a forceful tug that threatened to drag me across the ground if I hadn't deciphered his meaning and scrambled behind him myself.

"They've seen us!" a gruff voice acknowledged. One of the figures moved toward us and I noticed with a pang of fright that it was holding a small sword in its left hand. My stranger moved back as well as he could while sprawled on the ground, forcing me to do the same. His head jerked to the right a fraction of an inch, and when I looked I saw what had caught his attention- the hilt of a sword, which I guess belonged to him, was lying just out of reach.

A shout went up from the direction we'd come from. The pursuing party was drawing nearer, and it drew the attention of the strange little creatures that threatened us. The one that had come forward turned back to his companion. "Take care of them," he ordered, and then disappeared into the brush. The other figure came towards us, holding a weapon similar to his friend's. He stopped a foot or two away. An object on the ground that I couldn't see had caught his eye. He looked back up at my stranger, a weird expression on his face, and for a few breathless moments none of us moved.

The next series of events transpired so quickly I wasn't quite sure what was happening until afterwards. First, my stranger suddenly dove for the object that the little man had been so intent on. He grabbed it out of the brush and, leaning back, brought it to his lips, and I saw that it was an intricately carved, ivory colored horn in the shape of a lion. I was vaguely aware of the little creature yelling "No!" but then the man blew the horn and I forgot everything else. The sound that emitted from it was only a single note, but it seemed to pass right through my skin and carry over the treetops just to echo off of the silent sky right back down to my ears. I was brought back to attention when the beautiful sound stopped abruptly. My mind slowly connected the horn's sudden silence to my stranger's limp form face down in the dirt, and a shrill, "Oh!" burst from my lips.

Another figure appeared in the doorway at the base of the tree. "Nikabrik!" it demanded. "What's going on out there? That sound-"

"Shut up and help me get this thing inside," the one that I now knew was called Nikabrik (what a weird name) interrupted as he grabbed my stranger's arm and heaved his torso over his shoulder. "There's plenty of time for discussion later. Get the horn. And his sword." I was frozen to the spot. What was I supposed to do? Go Xena: Warrior Princess on them? I couldn't even throw a punch straight. I was the bane of Sensei's existence when my dad had forced me to take a year of Okinawan karate. "You too, girl!" With a start, I realized the scary little man was talking to me. I stared at him blankly, but he'd already turned around and continued to drag 200 pounds of man down into the tree.

"Come now, child." I turned my head to my right and screamed. The voice, though much kinder than that of the little man- Nikabrik or whatever- came from the mouth of a badger. A badger! I scrambled away from it, wondering what the hell a badger was doing talking and, if my reaction had offended it, did it know how to use the sword that it was now holding? It waddled towards me (on it's hind legs, no less) and seemed to have what I guess was a sympathetic look for a badger. "You must be very frightened, I know, but I'm afraid if you do not come inside a far worse fate may befall you than breaking bread with a badger." He motioned to the little door. "Go on, now. Go. I'll be right behind you."

Now, I'm sure most normal people would have run screaming by that time, but the truth was that I was just so tired, and while I'm being completely honest, somewhere between nearly being trampled by his horse and the appearance of these impossible creatures, I'd grown weirdly attached to my stranger. Maybe it had something to do with how he was the first person I met in this freaky place. You know, like when babies bond with their mothers in like the first three minutes after birth or something? Like that, but not as gross.

I managed to get to my feet uneasily, the bottoms of which were very sore, and walk slowly over to the tree. The roots seemed to make a little set of stairs down into a hollow between two larger roots, and at the bottom of the steps was the door. Placing my hand on the rough base of the tree, I made my way down them, feeling very much like a toddler who just learned how to go up and down the stairs.

I had to duck to get through the door, and when I got inside I gasped. The room I had entered was like a sort of dining room/kitchen/sitting room mixture. All the way to my left was a little alcove where the dishes were kept and probably washed. A little hall branched off from there, almost hidden from view. I stepped further into the room, around the table and to the right. The kid-sized surface had bowls and other oddities placed on it. A warm fire was burning in the hearth to my right, and while I was staring at the embers Nikabrik appeared from behind the far wall. I jumped at his sudden appearance, and took a step back only to trip and fall into a conveniently place chair. I landed on something hard, and turned to see that my stranger's vest of chain mail was draped over the back of the seat. I turned back around in time to see the badger pull the door closed behind him and lean the sword against the wall. He went over to the table and carefully placed the horn down, like he was worried he may break it.

"It is," he breathed. "Queen Susan's horn."

"Yes, and that idiot went and blew it," Nikabrik responded, sitting down in a chair at the table. His little sword was sheathed at his side. I didn't move or speak, but I could feel the tears making a comeback.

"Perhaps that is not such a bad thing, Nikabrik." The badger waddled around, collecting bowls and spoons from the table. "I hope Trumpkin's made out all right."

Nikabrik scoffed. "I highly doubt that. Telmarine soldiers are hardly forgiving."

I dug my fingernails into the soft cloth upholstery on the chair, trying to keep myself from screaming. Now that I was sitting in a cozy little room, I missed my big old four-poster bed more than ever. Not only that, but I really, really missed my parents. Wouldn't you? I had no idea where I was, the only person that had shown concern for me was out cold in the next room, and I was listening to a conversation between a talking badger and what I was growing more and more convinced may be a dwarf. Like, an honest to God mythical dwarf. You know, as in Snow White and the Seven?

Nikabrik seemed to notice me for the first time. While he scrutinized me I took a shaky breath and stared at the floor. "What are you, then?" he asked. What am I? What am I!? "You're certainly not Telmarine. You're much too pale. Out with it then. Where do you come from and why are you here? And while you're at it, you can explain what you were doing with that Telmarine scum."

The sound of his harsh voice was the last shove that got my tear ducts to their full momentum. I burst into a fit of tears, hugging myself, and an extremely unattractive sob tore out of my throat. "I…don't…know!" My reaction seemed to scare the dwarf. He recoiled visibly, and the badger turned around in the little kitchen alcove. The ridiculous explanation spilled from my lips with my sobs. "I was just minding my own business in bed when there were these scary whispers from my closet and then someone was calling my name so I went to see what the hell was going on and suddenly I was lying in the dirt nearly getting trampled by his horse!" I jerked my head towards the other room. I hiccoughed and tried to regain my breath. "And then he told me I had to go with him or the other men would probably kill me so I did but then we fell and he got dragged and so I was running and my feet…and then YOU guys showed up and totally made everything WORSE and you had to go and knock him out and I don't know where I am or why I'm here or who you are and I just want to go home and I…want…my…mom and dad!" I buried my face in my hands as I finished, crying loudly. I probably looked quite ridiculous, spouting nonsense at two strangers and crying so hard my eyes would most likely fall out before I was finished, but I honestly didn't care.

I just wanted to wake up.

A tiny hand touched my shoulder. "Now, now. It's all right. Don't cry." The voice was that of the badger. I suppose if I had to choose one of the two that I liked better, I'd pick him. His voice was kind and almost fatherly, and had a mature accent that reminded me of Britain. "I'm sure that everything will work out fine. Just calm down, dear. That's a good girl." I peered up at him from behind my hands. I was hunched over in the chair with my convulsive sobbing. He was holding out a handkerchief for me to use. I sniffed and hiccoughed again, then accepted it from him and wiped at my face. "There we are. Now, how about a nice hot cup a' tea? That'll help you feel better, eh?"

The badger got a cup from the cupboard and sprinkled a few different substances into it, and then went to the fireplace, where there was a kettle hanging over the flames, and poured steaming water over the herbs. He walked back over to me and placed the teacup in my hand. "That's right. Have a sip."

I put the cup to my lips and took a small sip. It burnt the tip of my tongue, but the badger was right. Something in the herbs he'd used to make it was helping to calm my nerves.

"Feel better?"

I nodded and took another careful sip.

"Good. Now." He pulled out a chair from the table and turned it so it was facing me before he sat down. "What is your name, child?"

"Izzy," I said softly. I blew on my tea and then took another, larger sip. The effect it had on me was amazing, and in addition to my lack of sleep, I was starting to feel rather lethargic.

"Well, Izzy, can you tell us where you are from? Archenland perhaps? The north?"

Nikabrik scoffed. "She doesn't look like one that would be from the wild lands."

"Hush, Nikabrik. Let her speak."

"I'm from New Jersey," I said.

They both stared at me for a moment, then the badger continued in his careful voice. I could tell he was wary that I might burst into tears again. "Nujerzy? I have not heard of that land before. It must not be a neighbor to Narnia."

"New Jersey," I corrected slowly. He had said it quickly like it was one word. "Like, a jersey that's new. And it's in America."

"America…" He looked to the dwarf. "Is that in Calormen?"

"No. I've never even heard of any such place. She must be lying."

"I'm not!" I exclaimed, tearing up again.

"Oh, Nikabrik, look what you've done. Gone and got her upset again." He put one paw on my knee. "It's all right. I know you aren't lying. Drink your tea." His voice was soft, but an order just the same. I did as he told, taking another large sip of the warm liquid. A pleasant flame was lit in my stomach, and I was feeling calm again and quite sleepy.

"America is west of here, probably. What country is Narnia in? Europe?"

"My dear, Narnia is a country herself." He patted my knee apologetically, like I should know better.

"I've never heard of it before. I've never heard of any of these places." I had to take another sip of tea to stay calm. "All I know is that ever since I moved to England things have been getting weirder and weirder and now I'm here…somehow. This is impossible." I hung my head, supporting it with the hand that wasn't holding the teacup.

"England?" My head shot up at the familiar tone in the badger's voice. He looked to Nikabrik. "Like the old stories."

"You know about England? What old stories?"

The badger looked back at me. "The stories about the Kings and Queens of Old. It was said that they came to Narnia from a different world, and a place called England within that world."

I stared at him, open-mouthed. "A different world? You mean I stepped into my closet and somehow fell through some ripple in the time space continuum and wound up here?"

He sat back. "I don't know about all that, but it has occurred to me that you may have been brought to Narnia much the same way as the Kings and Queens did- suddenly, and at a time of great need." Nodding to himself, he seemed satisfied with some sort of conclusion he'd made in his mind.

"Can I ask you some questions now?" I decided to get a few things cleared up while I was still thinking of them.

"Certainly."

"What are you?"

The animal chuckled. "Well, I'm a badger, of course."

"I know that. I guess what I'm trying to say is…you can talk. How is that possible?"

"There are many animals in this wood that can speak in the tongue of Adam." The badger shrugged like it was no big deal.

"There's more of you?"

"Some. Most of us are in hiding now, ever since the invasion of the Telmarines."

I pursed my lips. My initial shock and fear was wearing away and becoming replaced by curiosity.

"You keep talking about these Telmarines, and you said that my stranger is one of them. Oh!" I blushed, putting a hand to my mouth. "I mean that stranger. Not my. Heh."

Nikabrik gave me a strange look, but didn't say anything about my slip up. Instead, he explained. "The Telmarines invaded Narnia years ago and wiped out most of our kind. There are hardly any Narnians left now, but those that survived the invasion are all somewhere in the wood."

"Oh…and you…Narnians…are like…all mythical creature types?"

"Hardly mythical," the badger put in. He had stood up and was taking my empty teacup to the alcove. "We are all very real."

"Well, I mean mythical in my world. We don't have talking animals or…" I looked at Nikabrik, not wanting to misname his species.

"Dwarves," he supplied. Aha! I was right.

"Yeah, dwarves." I brought my knees up under my chin and hugged my legs. "Hey, do you guys have centaurs too?"

"Of course!" The badger returned to his seat. "Nice folk, they are. Glenstorm's particularly good at reading the stars."

"Glenstorm?"

"The head centaur."

"Ah. So, what are you going to do with…him?" I nodded towards the other room.

"I am not sure yet."

"I think we should kill it," Nikabrik said, looking disgruntled.

"No!" I exclaimed. "I mean…you don't even know why he's here or anything. Maybe he's not like the other Telmerins."

"Telmarines," the badger corrected.

"Right. The point is, he wasn't with those other men. He was running away from them. So, maybe he's not an enemy." I shrugged, trying to look unconcerned.

"That's true. Not that we would have killed him anyway." He gave Nikabrik a withering look. It suddenly occurred to me that I didn't know his name.

"Hey, um, what's your name?" I asked awkwardly.

The badger laughed. "Trufflehunter at your service, my lady."

"It's…um…nice to meet you, Trufflehunter." I smiled sheepishly, then covered my mouth as I yawned.

"Oh, how rude of us. You must be exhausted. Come, I will get you something to change into and set you up in the guest bed down the hall." He jumped to his feet and headed around to table toward the next room.

"That's my bed," Nikabrik grumbled. I really didn't like him.

"I don't want to impose," I said politely as I followed Trufflehunter. Actually, by that point I was so tired I had no problem imposing at all. I actually couldn't wait to impose my way all the way to dreamland.

"Nonsense. Come."

I followed Trufflehunter around the bend and watched as he busied himself digging through a trunk at the end of a bed. A bed that was occupied. My eyes moved up and I realized that I was looking at my stranger (I should probably try to stop calling him that).

I froze, quite shocked at what I was seeing.

"I'm afraid I haven't got anything too fancy- no dresses either," Trufflehunter was saying as he searched through the trunk. "But if I remember correctly, I've a bit of a collection of shirts and breeches. We badgers don't like to waste, and during all that crazy Telmarine business I somehow came into possession of- are you all right?" He'd turned around while he was speaking and saw my expression of wonder.

"He's so…young," I said. It was true. He had to be my age, a year or two older at the most.

"Yes, he's just a boy." Trufflehunter seemed saddened by this. "Didn't you know?"

"Well…no. This is the first time I've seen his face. I guess I had the impression that he was older…" I was still staring. I couldn't really help it- he had very interesting features. His skin was the color of dark caramel, and his eyes, even closed, were still strangely exotic. He looked peaceful, the smooth plane of his forehead met by arched eyebrows that were completely relaxed. There were no worry lines in the brow that connected to the slope of a round nose that slightly contrasted the sharp angle of his cheekbones. His lips, slightly parted by his breath, were neither thin nor full, but an even medium, and the curve of his chin, with the slightest of dimples, completed his island look. My fingers suddenly itched for a piece of charcoal and some paper. Did I mention that sometimes I get these sudden urges to draw, even though I'm not very good, just because I'm so intrigued by what I see? Yeah, it's pretty annoying, especially since I never do the real thing any justice.

"Miss Izzy?" Trufflehunter was standing at my side, holding a pair of pants and a shirt much like my stranger was wearing, and was looking anxiously back and forth between him and me.

"Yeah, sorry. I spaced for a second." I turned away from the boy so I wouldn't get distracted again. I noticed that when I wasn't looking I didn't need to draw quite as badly, which was good because I was dead tired and didn't feel like sitting up until daylight trying to get his earlobe right or something- I never would, anyway.

"Come, the guest room is this way."

I followed him out of the room past Nikabrik who was mumbling to himself, and down the hidden hallway I'd noticed before. "What about Nikabrik?"

"Nikabrik can sleep on the floor. If he complains I'll just sit on his head."

I laughed and Trufflehunter smiled. I ducked under another doorway. It was another bedroom, though much simpler because it lacked the personal touches that Trufflehunter's had. He placed the clothes on the little bed and walked to the doorway.

"I'm sorry I don't have a bigger bed."

"It's all right. I've slept in worse." I pulled my messenger back off from around my torso and dropped it next to the bed, then sat down on the edge of it. "Thank you so much."

"Oh, thanks are not necessary. My home will always be open to any Daughter of Eve that comes from the same world as the Kings and Queens of Old."

"Who are these Kings and Queens of Old?" I asked. I was very curious to hear about them.

Trufflehunter shook his head and held up a paw. "You must rest now. There will be time for more questions tomorrow. Sleep well."

"Thank you."

Then he was gone. I changed quickly, wary that there was no door to close for added privacy. I tossed my dirty and apparently ripped (I hadn't noticed until I took them off) pajamas to the side and investigated my new threads. The shirt fit just loosely enough to be comfortable but tight enough to not look like a tent. There was also another point on the scoreboard for team wear-a-bra-to-bed. Hey, you never know when you might fall into another country! …Right.

The pants were another case entirely. They fit well enough around my hips, but they were several inches too long. I yawned and pulled the blanket back on the bed, deciding that I could deal with that in the morning. I curled up under the covers and, no matter how cliché it might sound, I really was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

There you are! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review! Much love -Hoshi