Warnings: N/A
Summary: Narnia isn't just a dream - it's really there.
A/N: Chapter set in movie-verse.
Chapter Two – Into A New World
I've seen a new world...
Like nothing before just step through the door right
Into a new world... into Narnia.
-from 'New World' by TobyMac
Oomph! Susan tumbled onto the ground into something soft and wet. She knew the feeling on her hands instantly, but did not want to find out if what she felt was really true. It couldn't be, could it? But when she turned her head and moved the tree branches out of her way, she saw that, indeed, she was now in the middle of a snowy forest. She stood up and gazed around. But all that she could say was, "Impossible."
As Susan fell through, Edmund stood by and watched. For some reason, he had known that they would make it to Narnia when they went through the wardrobe, and he had been right. He and Lucy went right through the wardrobe with no trouble, while Susan and Peter fell onto the ground.
He had been so excited at first when he found that the only open room was the spare room with the wardrobe. He knew that this was his chance to bring them to see the Queen. And then, he would get everything he ever wanted. And for once, he would be able to be the boss, and Peter would have to do what he said.
"Don't worry," Lucy said to Susan. "I'm sure it's just your imagination." She smiled with delight.
"I don't suppose that an apology will quite cover it," Peter said sweetly.
"No," Lucy answered. But then she produced a snowball and threw it at his head. "But that might!" she shouted. Moments later, Susan, Peter, and Lucy were engaged in a full-fledged snowball fight.
Edmund turned away and looked up at the hills. Just a short distance and we'll be there, he thought. His thought was suddenly interrupted by a snowball on his arm. He quickly turned his head. Susan had thrown it and had gone to get another. "Ow!" he cried. The snowball fight stopped abruptly. "Stop it!" he said, more quietly.
Peter suddenly stopped being sweet and turned to Edmund in anger. "You little liar!" he shouted.
"You didn't believe her either!"
"Apologize to Lucy!" Peter shouted even louder. "Say you're sorry!"
"All right," Edmund said quietly. "I'm sorry!"
"It's all right," Lucy said. "Some little children just don't know when to stop pretending." Edmund smirked. You're so funny, he thought. Ha ha ha.
"Maybe we should go back," said Susan, changing the subject.
"Shouldn't we at least have a look around?" Edmund asked. He knew that this was the only way that he could get them to go further on.
"I think...Lucy should decide," said Peter. They all looked over at their little sister, whose face lit right up.
"I want you all to meet Mr. Tumnus!" she cried happily, her eyes shining brightly.
"Then Mr. Tumnus it is!" Peter replied. Then he went back toward the wardrobe.
"But we can't go hiking in the snow dressed like this," Susan argued, shivering as she said it.
"Well, then I don't think the Professor will mind us borrowing a few of these," said Peter as he re-emerged, holding several large fur coats. "Besides, if you think about it...logically," he said as he handed one to Susan, "we're not even taking them out of the wardrobe." Susan grimaced at him but she took a coat anyway.
Then he handed one to Lucy and one to Edmund. "But that's a girl's coat!" Edmund whined.
"I know," said Peter, forcing him to take the coat. Edmund took it, reluctantly. He wasn't surprised that Peter had given him a girl's coat. After all, Peter was never nice to him, not since Dad had gone away. In fact, after the war had started, Peter had been nothing but nasty to him. And Edmund was nasty back. He knew that as well as anyone. But Peter had started it.
Then they all started off toward the home of the infamous faun, Mr. Tumnus. None of them spoke for several minutes as they wandered through the snow. Edmund, especially, did not want to have a conversation with anyone. All that he cared about was that they were here, at the very least. As long as they remained in Narnia, there was a chance that he could find some way to get them to the Queen's home. And that was all he was concerned with.
The sight of the lamp-post in the clearing reminded Edmund of his first trip to Narnia the night before. But, while the others marveled over the lamp-post, Edmund paid it little attention. It no longer seemed strange to him, for some reason.
The snow was cold, and Edmund was colder. But, he forced himself to keep moving. Moving would make him warm, and moving would bring them closer to his preferred destination. Of course, he still did not know how to get them to come with him. It was a known fact that they never did what he said, not ever.
But, at last, they reached the faun's home. By this point, Lucy had begun to tell them all about the wonderful things that they would find when they got there. She was just going on about sardines and cakes when she stopped short, looked into the side of a rock formation, gasped, and began to run. Peter followed after her, and Susan and Edmund came behind, as well.
Upon entering the house, Edmund got a strange sort of feeling. Looking around, he saw that someone had already been here. And they hadn't come in peace. Objects of all sorts were scattered all over the floor - broken, shattered, and in pieces. And when he saw the broken pieces, Edmund began to feel a slight pang of guilt. The feeling scared him, and he didn't like it at all. He brushed it aside, but it was still there, pulling at his insides.
"Who would do something like this?" Lucy whispered. There was a hint of sadness and misunderstanding in her voice. Peter and Susan looked around and saw little more than Edmund did. But Lucy saw more than ruin; she saw the destruction of the home of a friend.
Then Peter pulled a paper off of the wall. He began to read the notice. As he read it, Edmund realized why he had begun to feel this guilt. Mr. Tumnus had been arrested, and Edmund had been the one to give out the information for the arrest. He hadn't meant to, of course.
"All right," said Susan. "Now we really should go back."
"But what about Mr. Tumnus?" asked Lucy.
"It's out of our hands, Lu," Peter told her.
"You don't understand, do you?" said Lucy. "I'm the human. She must have found out he helped me." Edmund turned his head away. He certainly couldn't let them know about his meeting with the Queen now.
"Maybe we should call the police," Peter suggested.
"These are the police," Susan replied, holding up the notice.
"Don't worry, Lu, we'll think of something," Peter said to Lucy.
"Why?" Edmund asked suddenly. He wanted to turn the attention away from the faun and to something else, possibly. The children turned to Edmund. Susan's look alone pierced Edmund's heart a bit. But he continued. "I mean, he's a criminal," he added.
The others would have said something more to him, but a slight distraction got their attention. From outside the cave, a sound like a whisper emerged. When the children looked outside, all they saw was a bird on the tree that stood by the door. Susan looked back at Peter and Lucy with wonder filling her face.
"Did that bird just "pssst" us?" she asked.
Then Peter took Lucy's hand and led her out to the tree. Susan and Edmund followed, a little slower. As they stepped out, the bird flew away. This puzzled several of the children, or at least Edmund. Why would a bird "pssst" them if it just wanted to fly away?
Just then, Edmund heard rustling noises coming from the bushes beside them. The other children heard the noises too. They were nearly frozen in place, though they kept moving. Susan clung to Peter and Lucy clung to Susan. Edmund stood by himself. He wasn't about to cling to any one of them, of course.
At last, they saw what the cause of the noise was. As Lucy said, "It's a beaver!" And it was, indeed, a beaver. It crawled toward them on all fours. After a moment, Peter stepped forward, put his hand out, and began beckoning the beaver toward him. The beaver crept toward them. When it reached Peter's hand, it stood up on its hind legs.
"Well, I ain't gonna smell it, if that's what you want," the beaver said. Edmund gasped in shock. Did the beaver just talk to them? Fortunately, Edmund was getting used to strange things in Narnia. Otherwise, he might have been as shocked as the others.
"Sorry," said Peter, pulling his hand back and standing up right. He looked at Susan and Lucy, wondering if they had just heard what he had heard.
"Lucy Pevensie?" the beaver asked, holding up his hands.
Lucy stepped forward slowly. "Yes?" she asked the beaver back. The beaver held up a white handkerchief and gave it to her. "Hey, that's the hankie I gave to Mr. Tum..."
"Tumnus," the beaver interrupted, nodding. "He got it to me just before they took him."
"Is he all right?"
The beaver got back down on all fours and looked around. "Further in," he whispered. Then he ran off in the direction he had appeared. Edmund looked at Susan and she looked back at him. Edmund knew one thing for certain – he was not going to follow that beaver. But, Peter and Lucy began to move in that direction.
Susan ran up and grabbed Peter's shoulder. He turned around and looked at her. "What are you doing?" Susan asked.
"She's right," Edmund agreed, knowing that this could lead to no good. "How do we know we can trust him?"
"He said he knows the faun," Peter said, shrugging his shoulders.
"He's a beaver," Susan replied. "He shouldn't be saying anything!" Edmund nodded in agreement.
Then the beaver appeared on top of some nearby rocks. "Is everything all right?" he asked. The children looked at each other.
"Yes," said Peter. "We were just talking."
"That's best left for safer quarters."
"He means the trees," said Lucy. All the children looked around at the trees. Then Lucy and Peter began to follow the beaver again. This time, Susan and Edmund went too. But Edmund began to feel that strange sensation again as they walked. And he most certainly didn't like it.
A short time later, Edmund and the others found themselves seated around a table inside the beavers' home. Well, Edmund sat on the stairs while the others sat by the table. Edmund did not really like these beavers very much. Mr. Beaver, the one who had found them near the faun's home, had bothered him when Edmund had stopped to look over toward the Queen's home. "Enjoying the scenery, are we?" he had said. Edmund had ignored the statement, but it had offended him, anyway.
Now he sat on the stairs and thought about ways that he could get them out of here and to the Queen's home. It would not be easy; that much he knew. But there had to be some way to do it. But then again, these beavers didn't exactly seem like the sort to be friendly with the Queen. Maybe he would just have to go alone. It wasn't exactly desirable, but if it had to be done, it had to be done.
"Isn't there anything we can do to help Tumnus?" asked Peter.
"They'll have taken him to the witch's house," replied Mr. Beaver. "And you know what they say – there's few who go through them gates that come out again."
Mrs. Beaver quickly came out and lay down a plate next to Lucy. "Fish and chips, dear," she said, obviously trying to avoid the subject. "But there is hope, dear. Lots of hope."
Mr. Beaver spit out the drink that he had been drinking. "Oh, yeah, there's a right bit more than hope!" he said excitedly. Then he leaned forward and whispered, "Aslan is on the move."
Edmund suddenly felt that strange pang again. But, despite the feeling, he stepped forward to the table. "Who's Aslan?" he asked.
"Who's Aslan?" Mr. Beaver laughed. He slapped the table while he laughed. "You cheeky little blighter!" He continued to laugh until he was nudged by Mrs. Beaver. Then he looked at the children. "You don't know, do you?" he asked.
"Well, we haven't exactly been here that long," said Peter.
"Well he's only the king of the whole wood, the top geezer, the real king of Narnia!" said Mr. Beaver, still not believing that they didn't know about Aslan.
"He's been away for a long while," said Mrs. Beaver.
"But he's just got back!" Mr. Beaver continued. "And he's waiting for you at the stone table!"
As the Beavers talked about Aslan, the feeling in Edmund's gut got stronger and stronger. He turned away from the table and walked back to the stairs. When he reached them, he began to realize what he had to do now. He couldn't listen to any more of this. And he knew now that his brother and sisters were not going to come willingly now. Peter would never listen to him; he never had and he never would. Lucy cared too much and hated the Queen. And Susan wanted to leave this place, not get farther into it. He had to be on his own. And he had to leave, now.
He decided to leave his coat. He didn't know exactly why, but he thought that it would be a good idea to leave the coat. Then, he began to crawl up the stairs. He blocked out the words that the Beavers said; he only listened to make sure that they were speaking loud enough to cover the sound of the door. And, very carefully and quietly, he snuck out the door and into the night. He shut the door behind him and walked away from the dam.
As soon as he was far enough away that they wouldn't be able to hear him run, he began to run. And for a while, Edmund ran. He held his arms to his chest, because it was so cold. When the snow got deeper, Edmund had to walk slower. But, he tried to walk as fast as he could. He had to get to the Queen's castle before the others could catch up with him.
At last, he came to a frozen lake where he could see the castle ahead of him. With as much speed as he could muster, the cold little boy ran across the ice toward the castle. When he reached the far side of the lake, he was completely out of breath. So, he climbed the rocks to the doorway more slowly. The great door opened surprisingly easily, and Edmund walked through into the courtyard of the Queen's castle.
Susan did not want to go anywhere else in this new world called Narnia. She would have rather just gone home straight away. She had suggested it when they had first entered, and again when they had found the notice for Tumnus' arrest. But no one listened to her, and now she was sure that they should have gone back in the first place. After all, home was the safe place to be.
She had to admit, she had been slightly intrigued by the news of Aslan and the tales of the prophecy that the Beavers had talked about. But then, they were Beavers after all, and she was just an English girl. And she certainly was no kind of heroine, let alone some kind of Queen. And so, again, she had suggested that they go home now. It was time to leave while everything was still all right.
But then they had turned around, and Edmund was nowhere to be seen. Susan had looked all around the dam, but Edmund was gone. And what's worse, he had left his coat here. Her little brother was somewhere out in the snow without a coat. This could not get any worse.
They had, of course, run immediately out of the dam and straight toward the home of the Witch, where Mr. Beaver suspected that Edmund was headed. Susan did not like the sound of that. It made her run even faster, if that was at all possible. The snow was deep and the air was cold, but Susan had a little brother to catch. They needed to get home, after all.
When they reached a frozen lake surrounding the castle, though, Susan froze. She watched in silence as she saw a small figure heading through the huge gates of the castle on the other side.
"Edmund!" Lucy shouted, as loudly as she could.
"Shhh! They'll hear ya!" Mr. Beaver whispered quickly and harshly.
Then Peter tried to make a run for it. Susan was surprised. Peter hadn't shown this much concern for Edmund in years. But Mr. Beaver pulled on his coat and stopped him from going anywhere. "No!" he shouted.
"Get off me!" Peter screamed back.
"You're playing into her hands!" Mr. Beaver responded.
"We can't just let him go," argued Susan.
"He's our brother!" added Lucy.
"He's the bait!" Mr. Beaver answered. "The Witch wants all four of ya!"
"Why?" Peter asked.
"To stop the prophecy from coming true. To kill ya!"
Each of the children's heads turned immediately to the castle. Was that the fate that awaited Edmund? As she thought about it, Susan suddenly grew very angry. And there was only one person that she could blame for that.
"This is all your fault," she told Peter, advancing toward him angrily.
"My fault?" Peter said, acting as if he had no idea what she was talking about.
"None of this would have happened if you had just listened to me in the first place!" Susan shouted at him.
"Oh, so you knew this would happen," Peter said sarcastically.
"I didn't know what would happen," Susan said quietly. "Which is why we should have left while we still could!"
"Stop it!" Lucy interrupted. "This isn't going to help Edmund."
"She's right," agreed the Beaver. "Only Aslan can help your brother now."
"Then take us to him," Peter said quietly.
Susan looked back out at the castle that lay on the other side of the lake. She watched as Edmund disappeared behind the great doors, and as those great doors shut behind him. She stood there for a moment, frozen in time, wondering if there was anything they could possibly do to help Edmund now.
Moments later, they were rushing back through the woods, this time even faster than they had run coming up the first time. Because, as Mr. Beaver said, as soon as Edmund talked to the Witch, her wolves would come right behind. So, the children ran, primarily out of fear, back to the Beavers' dam.
They rushed into the dam with quite a commotion. "Hurry, mother, they're after us!" Mr. Beaver shouted.
"Oh, right then," said Mrs. Beaver, sounding a bit flustered. She began to run around gathering various food items and things.
"What is she doing?" asked Peter.
"Oh, don't worry, dear," said Mrs. Beaver. "You'll be thanking me later. It's a long journey and Beaver gets pretty cranky when he's hungry."
"I'm cranky now!" shouted Mr. Beaver.
Then Susan began to rush around and look for things too. If they wanted to get out of here quickly – and practically, as well – then Mrs. Beaver would need some assistance. "Do you think we'll need jam?" she asked, unsure of what to pack in a running away sort of situation.
"Only if the Witch serves toast!" Peter answered. Clearly, he didn't seem to understand how important it is to be prepared for long journeys, or so Susan observed.
Suddenly, they heard scratching noises outside. "Quickly, this way!" Beaver said as he rushed over to an old trapdoor. They all dashed into the tunnel. Susan grabbed a lantern on her way out, knowing that light was essential. Then into the tunnel she ran.
The tunnel was long and dark, but it made Susan feel good to know that there was a way out of the dam that didn't involve running into a pack of wolves. She held Lucy's hand as she ran, mostly because Peter was holding a torch, and Susan had no desire to have Lucy burn her hands anywhere, much less a tunnel. At one point, Lucy fell onto the ground because Susan was not used to running with her, and when they stopped, they could hear the wolves approaching. "They're in the tunnel," Lucy whispered. And so they ran even faster.
When they got to a dead end, they all stopped briefly. "You should have brought a map!" Mrs. Beaver cried.
"There wasn't room next to the jam!" Mr. Beaver answered her, and with that, he jumped up out of the hole in the ceiling of the tunnel. Fortunately, that was the way out.
Susan and Lucy hurried up out of the tunnel and out into the clearing. Peter helped Mr. Beaver roll a barrel in front of the entrance. Then Lucy tripped and fell over something. When they turned around, they saw that she had fallen on a group of statues that were very detailed and looked a lot like animals. Susan didn't know why, but she suddenly felt very sad while looking at the statues.
And for good reason, too. As it turned out, these were not just statues. They had been living animals that had been turned to statues by the White Witch. She learned this from a fox, who saved them from the wolves by hiding them up in a tree. Susan felt exceptionally sorry for the poor creature when he was hurt by the wolves, but she was so grateful that he had saved them.
Then, as Mrs. Beaver worked to heal the poor fox, they all sat around a campfire. For the first time since they had entered Narnia, Susan felt somewhat relaxed, and even a little peaceful.
"Are you all right?" Lucy asked the fox as he lay squirming.
"Well, I wish I could say that their bark is worse than their bite," the Fox replied, wincing in pain every now and again.
"Stop squirming!" Mrs. Beaver told him sternly. "You're worse than Beaver on bath day!"
"Worst day of the year," Mr. Beaver whispered to the children. Susan chuckled, trying to imagine how a beaver would react to a bath.
"Well, thank you for your kindness," said the Fox. "But I'm afraid that's all the cure I have time for."
"You're leaving?" said Lucy sadly.
"It has been a pleasure, my Queen, and an honor," the Fox replied, bowing. "But time is short, and Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops."
"You've seen Aslan?" Mr. Beaver said, perking right up.
"What's he like?" added Mrs. Beaver.
"Like everything we've ever heard," answered the Fox. Then he turned to Peter. "You'll be glad to have him on your side in the battle against the Witch."
"But we're not planning on fighting any Witch," Susan interjected. They couldn't, of course. Battles are dangerous, especially for children like themselves.
"But, surely, King Peter, the prophecy..."
"We can't go to war without you," said Mr. Beaver.
Peter threw a piece of wood into the fire as he hesitated to speak. Finally, he said, "We just want our brother back."
The Fox said no more on the subject. "Good-bye, your Highnesses, I must be off. And good-bye to you, Beavers." With that, the Fox was gone, and hardly another word was spoken that night. As Susan lay, trying to get to sleep on the cold, hard ground, she thought of Edmund. She wondered whether he was all right, or whether he was in trouble.
Author's Notes: This chapter is basically an introduction to the world of Narnia, through Susan and Edmund's eyes. As you can see, I'm still sticking rather closely to movie prose. That's not always the most fun thing, but it works for the story.
I think the only thing that I really liked while I wrote this chapter was inserting Edmund's funny feeling. Did you catch that? If you didn't, go back through and look again. That "funny feeling" will pop up in the future.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Reviews love!
