A/N: It's been a very long time coming. I got so stuck trying to write the rest of this chapter. And I'm back to writing alone, so there will be a noticeable change to the content. It'll probably drift closer to the first writing, except that I'm older now and supposedly better than I used to be. I hope you enjoy.
Shawn gasped in shock and pain. Desperate to rejoin the fight before the twin-bladed fighter realized what happened and capitalized, he shifted all of his joints to check for breaks and pain and felt a sharp sting from his shoulder. He brought his arm over to touch his shoulder and instead felt a shaft protruding from his shoulder instead. Grasping the arrow in his hand, he prepared to yank it from his arm, but was stopped by a startling clash of steel and a grunt, followed by a female voice screaming a name Shawn took as Peter. He managed to brace himself on his forearms and force his upper body from the grass. He looked around and saw the blond boy against the ground and the Telemarine he had been fighting standing over him, blade in hand, like Shawn had done not twenty four hours before to Remian. His gaze panned his surroundings and he noticed another dwarf, blade in hand standing by two girls. One had her bow drawn and an arrow notched in it to fire if necessary.
For the moment, no one dared to move again for fear of being attacked again. During this time, Shawn took the time to scan the people surrounding him at the time, namely the boy he'd just fought and the three newcomers. The boy was dark haired, although his hair was shorter than the Telemarine's. He was lanky, but after fighting him Shawn knew that the boy had some coiled strength in his wiry body. He moved on to the two girls, sisters apparently from his observations. The younger had sun-kissed hair and wide eyes. The older was almost a total opposite from the younger: hair dark as midnight, full lips pressed together tensely. Her dress fit her well without exposing anything and yet accentuated her body to the fullest extent. Her sharp blue eyes were piercing, and he knew that the shaft lodged in his shoulder came from her.
The Telemarine stood self-imposed, almost as if there had been no one had been there but him and the boy he fought hard against. He dared to inch his sword closer to his opponent's neck, and Shawn heard the girl tighten her grip on the arrow pinched between her thumb and two fingers, readying to send it flying. "Who are you?" the Telemarine queried. "Why have you come here? Speak before I claim your life as forfeit."
At that the blonde puffed in anger and disbelief. "Who are you to give me orders? You are an invader to this country!" He gestured behind the Telemarine smoothly. "And at any rate, were you to even attempt to take me, my brother and sister would have you dead in an instant." Then the Telemarine looked around himself warily and remembered the two others who fought beside him, one impaled with an arrow and another whose blades were pointed at him meticulously. Another glance saw two girls, one armed with a bow, and a dwarf.
Wait… Caspian thought. The dwarf… "Trumpkin?" he tried warily.
The dwarf looked cautiously before dropping his guard and waddling down to Caspian's side. "Caspian… we had hoped that you might make it. How fares the Wildcat? And the loudmouth, Reepicheep?"
"They returned last night. We had been on the move and they had taken great pains to not be followed."
"Trumpkin," the older girl called, lowering her guard but still ready to fire. "Who did you say this was?"
Trumpkin stepped forward, pushing aside Caspian's blade and grabbing the blonde's from the floor. "Queen Susan, Queen Lucy, King Edmund and High King Peter, this is Prince Caspian the Tenth."
Peter looked up in surprise at the Telemarine standing over him as Caspian looked back, mirroring the look on the High King's face. Lucy and Susan stepped down from their perch and met with their brothers by the brook.
Edmund sheathed his swords and helped Peter gain his feet as he continued to stare warily at Caspian. He glanced at his siblings momentarily before they came to a wordless agreement. Peter gulped a little before apologizing. "I'm sorry Caspian. We've been fighting Telemarines since we got here…and I thought you were…"
Caspian shook his head. "I get it," he said quietly.
"We're sorry for attacking you and your friend," Edmund said, interrupting.
Caspian stared at Edmund. "What are you talking about? I've been alone."
"Then who was the guy who I was fighting?" Edmund asked. When Caspian shrugged his shoulders, the group walked slowly to where the stranger had fallen.
The boy's black-and-white hair was messy, draping in his eyes. His chest heaved as he tried to gasp in air. When he looked up to see the group standing over him, he grasped at his sword, only to have Edmund reach down and take his weapon. He managed to gurgle out a 'no' before wincing in pain.
"Should we use the cordial?" Lucy asked, already reaching for the diamond-shaped vial at her hip.
Peter held up his hand. "Not yet. Edmund, what do you think?"
Edmund appeared to be studying the boy's sword. "He's a strong fighter, a formidable opponent. We need to help clean his wounds and what not, but since we can't bind him yet, this is our best bet to make sure he doesn't attack us or run off and tell people about us."
Susan bent down in the grass and studied where she'd placed her arrow in his body. "I shot him in the muscle under the collar bone. He won't die, but we need to make sure he isn't infected. Take him to the brook so we can wash out his wound." Caspian and Peter grabbed a hold of the boy, gently carrying him in their rough hands to the water.
"Your sister is an amazing shot," Caspian managed to whisper to Edmund and Peter as they walked to the brook.
"Well, she was head over the archers back in our first reign," Peter chuckled.
When they got him to the water, the boys rested, disarming and watching while Lucy and Susan took care of their hostage. Susan borrowed Lucy's dagger, cutting the cloth away from the arrow. The boy looked to be losing consciousness, which she felt was good while they were working on him. She brushed the hair away from his face gently. "Hey, you'll be okay," she whispered to him. He could only mumble as his eyes began to roll back. "I'll take good care of you. Then you can tell your story," she talked him to sleep as Lucy, having smaller hands and just being overall a better healer, grabbed hold of the arrow and slowly worked it out of his shoulder. Susan followed up with a wet cloth she had ripped from the folds of her dress, wiping up the blood and cleaning the wound before wrapping it tightly.
While she worked in silence, Trumpkin stood alone. That boy…he seemed familiar. Too familiar. He couldn't be sure though. It didn't matter. He'd find out soon. They'd take him to the How and question him when they got there.
Hearing a rumble from the brush, Trumpkin grabbed his own bow and notched an arrow. "Name yourself," he warned, which drew the attention of the humans at the brook.
A deep voice came from the bushes. "Have pause, my friend. We are of the true Narnia, the Free Narnia." A centaur stepped from the forest to stand before them, preceding a Wildcat. "Very good, Merimba. You tracked Caspian very quickly."
Merimba purred softly as he headed to Caspian to greet his new friend. Meanwhile, Peter and Edmund met up with Trumpkin in front of the imposing centaur. "Glenstorm, allow me to make introductions," Trumpkin said, putting his bow to rest. "Meet Peter and Edmund, Kings of Narnia."
