Chapter 10*
Hullo there. Gabby here. Tis snowing here in hillbilly land, very inspiring weather to write a Narnia fanfic.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, REVIEW. Our lack of reviewers makes us SAD. D:
Now enjoy. Review. And no one gets hurt.
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Maria-
I rode along on the back of my gryphon, bouncing along as it made its way through the rough forest. My mouth stretched open in a grand yawn, and I gingerly laid my head against the gryphon's back. I knew I needed sleep, but at the same time knew it wouldn't come to me. My nerves were acting up to much for that.
I felt like I was waiting in line for a brand new roller coaster, one that wasn't finished being built and gave wusses like me nose bleeds. The plan was so unsure, and it was a big risk.. And besides, Emily and I barely knew how to fight!
Not that we didn't train, like, all the time. We did. We were showing good process, Emily especially(Edmund had taken up the honor of training her himself) and we practically killed ourselves with exhaustion half the time we went so long training. But still, our skills were mediocre at best when compared to the likes of the Pevensies and Caspian. But we were good, that wasn't something you could deny.
Presently, we came to the edge of the forest and found ourselves facing a huge field that dented in like a mini valley and was shrouded in fog. Looming in the distance was a small town that started on the ground of the field and gradually leveled itself up to a huge cliff, dropping off into a pitch black precipice. The main road, which ran straight through the town, turned into a bridge here, which led to a castle which sat upon a peninsula in the abyss. The castle was precariously built upon the rocky peninsula, and seemed to grow from the stones. It was certainly made from stones the same colour as those of the rocks of the cliff face, and rose high into the misty fog. It was creepy, and gave me subliminal images of that Haunted Mansion movie, with Eddie Murphy. Is that a zombie I smell?
"Alright." came Peter's voice from the very front of the regiment; he and Caspian were leading the group. Mainly Caspian, seeing as he was the only one who knew where the castle was, but Peter was not going to give him the pleasure of being a full-fledged leader for one second. I peeked over the top of my gryphon's head to see the sexy boy standing between Caspian and a gryphon of his own, Edmund on the other side. "Right, then. There's the castle.. Edmund and Emily will leave first."
He didn't seem to be in the mood for a big long inspirational speech, and I don't think it would have helped any of us, anyways. I heard the ruffling of wings from beside me, and turned to see Emily's gryphon stretching its wings apart, preparing to take off. Up ahead of me, Edmund was straddling his own gryphon and speaking some quiet words to his brother.
"Bye Emily," I whispered, trying my best to smile. "May the force be with you."
"Live strong and prosper," she replied, reaching over and squeezing my arm. She smiled back at me before her gryphon took off into the night sky in pursuit of Edmund's, carrying her away to the castle. I sighed and laid my head back down against the soft feathers of my gryphon's neck, nestling my face against them and closing my eyes.
I heard footsteps next to me and felt a hand on my outer thigh. I turned without lifting my head from the gryphon's neck and looked down, finding myself drowning in the aqua blue gaze of Peter Pevensie. I was suddenly hyper aware of his hand on my thigh and felt my temperature rise a couple of degrees.
"Why hello Peter." I whispered, not being able to hide the girlish glee adding a squeak to my voice. He was looking up at me with warmth in his blue eyes, a smile only pulling up one side of his mouth. It was gorgeous and adorable and hot and totally making me drool.
"Hello, Maria. Are you alright? I noticed you were slumping against your gryphon, you aren't hurt, are you?" he asked, the smile fading slightly from his face and he checked me over for wounds.
I felt the smile grow on my face. He was such a caring person. "Yes, Peter, I'm fine. Just tired, that's all." I replied.
He patted my thigh, and I could feel the warmth of his hand through my dress. "I think we all are.. It's an ungodly hour to be awake, but the point of the whole thing is that it's a night raid.."
I laughed lightly at his small attempt at humor. At least he was trying to make the situation light. "Yeah, well this is the only night mission I'll ever go on. I need my sleep." I said back.
And then suddenly, Peter was sliding his hands around my waist and pulling me down from the gryphon. I laughed and grabbed his forearms as he span me around in a circle before placing me on the ground.
"Peter, what're you doing?!" I cried, still laughing as he again span me.
"I didn't like looking up at you, although it was a very nice angle for your pretty face. I prefer you down here on the ground with me." he said softly in my ear, and I turned into butter and melted all over my toasty Peter. Man this boy was smooth. And I loved it.
I giggled and grabbed his hands in my own, swinging my arms merrily and staring up at him. He smiled down at me, and I mean a real smile, not a little tight lipped half smile, and then twirled me around like we were dancing. Which we then proceeded to do.
It was the weirdest dance of my life. Neither of us knew what we were doing, and my discoordination nearly knocked us down multiple times, but that just made it all the funner. We were laughing and doing a cross between salsa and ballroom dancing when we heard a throat being cleared from behind us. Peter lifted me from the dramatic dip we had just been executing and we turned to see Caspian on the back of his gryphon, flanked by Susan and Trumpkin and their gryphons.
"Look," he said, turning back to the castle, and I peeked over Peter's shoulder to see a small yellow light waving at us from the tallest castle turret. Edmund and Emily's signal.
"Oh, right." Peter said, looking embarrassed. He guided me back over to my gryphon, and lifted me from my waist up onto the back of the beast. He made sure I was seated before turning and leaving, but a sudden burst of courage lead me to call out after him.
"Peter, wait!" I said, drawing his attention back to me. And I leaned over the side of my gryphon. And I kissed his cheek.
"Good luck." I whispered against his cheek, pulling away. A dark blush stained both our cheeks.
"And to you." he whispered back, his voice sounding strained. He stared up at me with those impenetrable blue eyes for a moment longer than necessary before turning and making his way over to his own gryphon, jumping easily on the back of the beast.
And with that, we took off. My stomach lurched as the five of us took off into the sky and headed straight up for the black clouds, breaking the cover of the fog and hovering above it. I clutched onto my gryphon's neck for dear life, and it took everything I had not to scream and shit my pants. Our cover would definitely be blown either happened, and Aslan forbid they happen together at once. That would stink. Literally.
I felt my gryphon dive down, and looked to see us approaching a great wall in the castle. It was between two large turrets, upon one of which two small figures could be seen. Edmund and Emily.
I looked down to see two archers taking aim at said tiny figures. I heard a bow being pulled taut from my left and knew Susan was taking aim, but that still left one archer alive. I drew my own bow from the quiver on my back and notched an arrow, which I proceeded to send flying.
My aim wasn't as nice as Susan's, but it got the job done. My gryphon landed on the wall and I jumped down from its back, falling in the process. I felt a hand on my elbow and looked to see Peter pulling my to my feet. Before he could ask, I said,
"I'm fine." with a smirk on my face. From the corner of my eye, I saw Emily waving her arms, and turned to look up at her. She gave me a thumbs up and a wink, and I chose to ignore the wink and sent her a thumbs-up in return.
"Come on, Maria," Peter said, his hand on my arm gently tugging me along after him. I looked to see the others all racing off for the turret opposite of Emily's, and with a final glance back at my friend took off after them in pursuit of the Professor Cornelius' study.
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EMILY-
I let my hands fall to my sides as Peter grabbed Maria's attention and led her quickly towards the edge of the building where she'd have to slip down the rope and into the Professors office. I wasn't even going to think about how Peter was going to make her do that.
I turned back around to where Ed was leaning against the wall, staring at me, almost in curiosity. I met his eyes, and raised my eyebrows.
"What?" I hissed.
"Nothing." Edmund said, and looked away. I hated it when people did that, got you all curious and then said 'don't worry', or 'nothing'. It was frigging irritating. Just like Edmund. I crossed the balcony, and looked out towards the forest where our troops were waiting, hidden in the shadow. I then sucked in a deep breath when I realized how high up we were. I closed my eyes and went all tense.
"Are you alright?" Ed asked.
I let out the breath and turned back towards him.
"I'm fine." I replied quickly.
Through the corner of our eyes we could see the other griffin carrying our friends land on another tower, and we knew we would have to let the second signal go soon.
Ed seemed to realized what was wrong and his face crumpled.
"Oh, Aslan, I'm so sorry, Em," he said, and I cocked my head at him.
"The height. I didn't even think about how uncomfortable you would be."
I took a shuddering breath and smiled weakly.
"Don't worry about it, Ed." I said, patting his arm. "I forgive you."
"Would you forgive me about the meeting thing?" he asked, and I thought for a second. With those penetrating brown eyes, how could I resist?
I nodded. "Sure. Forgiven."
"Good, he whispered, and stepped towards me slowly. I backed backwards, so my back was resting on the outer wall of the tower. Edmund kept stepping forward, and I realized what he was doing.
Oh wow. Oh boy. Oh Aslan.
He stepped forward again, and now he was hal an rams distance away. One more step and he would be pressed against me. He took that step too, and we stared at eachother, everything melting away around us. One of his arms curled around my waist, the other still holding the torch, and he pulled me forward a few centimeters.
"Thankyou," he whispered, before pressing his lips to mine.
Okay, so I've had a little experience in the kissing arena. Not heaps, but I was no novice. And neither was Ed. He deepened the kiss even more, and I responded eagerly, not really believing this was happening.
We kissed for a few more mintues, until I heard a loud clatter, and Ed pulled away from me quickly, leaning over the balcony around me. I leant down too, and gasped when I saw the torch about ten metres below us, on the second tier of the watch tower. As we watched, a door opened from the tower, and a helmeted guard walked out, staring at the torch in confusion. He picked it up, and somehow managed to flick the switch, illuminating the torch and flashing himself in the face.
I turned to get up Ed, but flinched when I realized he had disappeared. I whirled around to see the open door, and ran down the steps to the second tier where Ed was pushing a Telmarine soldier away. He had lost his sword, and I cursed Ed and his foolishness.
The Telmarine Guard swung his sword at Ed, who was backed up against a wall. Edmund ducked just in time, and used the guards recovery time to pick up the torch which was on the ground. He moved so quick I almost didn't see him, and the guard stumbled forward as Ed swung the torch wildly, knocking the guards head, and sending him to the ground, unconscious.
I ran forward as Ed looked at me in triumph.
"Quick, signal the troops!" I hissed, and he nodded, a little disappointed with my lack of reaction and praise, and fiddled with the torch, which wasn't turning on.
"Oh, no," Ed groaned, and I huffed.
"Let me see." I said, and took it off him. The torches from my time were a lot trickier than this one, and I quickly realized the batteries had been knocked out of place. With some quick fiddling and tapping, I flicked the switch, the light coming on.
I signaled the troops, and turned back to Ed, who was standing and staring at me like before, except with a bemused look on his face.
"What?" I smiled, enjoying the look.
"You're amazing, you know that?" he sighed, and I giggled like a little kid.
"You're not so bad yourself," I said as I glided forward, picking up his sword as I went. "That was some awesome swordwork."
Ed smiled in appreciation, and I only then noticed the thin trickle of blood coming from his eyebrow.
"Eddie, you're hurt!" I said, rushing forward. Ed caught my wrists, and frowned at me.
"I thought I said no Eddie." He chuckled, and leant down to kiss me again.
When he pulled away, I felt like I'd been bashed over the head with a hammer.
"No Eddie." I promised.
And that was peace was amazing compared to what was soon to come.
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Maria-
We sprinted across the wall, down the winding stairs of a turret, across another wall, and came to the top of the tower which housed the Professor. Caspian threw a rope he had been carrying down the side of the turret and tied it securely to one of the square stone 'teeth' of the turret, and I watched as he sidled himself down the tower. I felt the blood drain from my face as I watched as one by one my companions made their way down the rope. There was no way they were getting me to hoist my fat butt down the side of this tower, nuh uh no sir.
"Come on, Maria!" I heard Susan hiss, and peeked over the side of the turret and watched as Trumpkin made his way down the rope to see how it was done.
This was definitely the wrong thing to do. I looked down just in time to see Trumpkin lose his balance as he landed on the windowsill, slip and fall backwards. I let out a small cry as I watched the dwarf tip backwards of the ledge, and watched as Susan turned and, showing lightening fast reflexes, reached out and grabbed him by his quiver strap. They stood frozen like that for a few moments, in which Trumpkin's raspy breathing was heard from where I stood, and I again looked to see them both looking down, where two figures stood in the courtyard below. Had Trumpkin fallen, he would have landed right on top of the Telmarine soldiers, and Susan was keeping him suspended there in midair so as to not draw their attention. A few moments later, they slowly walked off and disappeared into an archway leading elsewhere in the castle. Susan grunted as she heaved Trumpkin back onto the windowsill, and with a nod of thanks he shoved past her and into the Professor's chamber. She then looked up at me and gave two tugs on the rope, indicating it was my turn to come down.
White hot fear gripped me and stiffened my limbs as I looked down the side of the building. They honestly expected me to sidle my ass down that rope? Huh uh, no way. It's already been established that I'm the clumsiest person in all of Narnia, and have had experiences on the climbing rope back at school. That got out of gym for a week with a badly sprained ankle. Aslan only knows how being dangled hundreds of feet above an enemy filled stone courtyard would end.
Then, as I stood staring uncomprehendingly at Susan, I saw Peter step onto the windowsill again. He looked up at my frozen form and his face softened and he held his arms up to me.
"Come on, Maria, you can do it. There's nothing to worry about, I won't let anything happen to you. You'll be fine." he whispers up to me, still holding his arms up. My heart melts into a little pile of mush at his sweetness, and I regain the ability to move my limbs. Cautiously, very cautiously, I step between the turret teeth and, using the rope, lower myself until my chin is level with the tower. I grip the rope between the front parts of my feet and my clenched fists and slowly inch my way down it.
It hurt like a mofo, I won't lie to you. The rope was coarse and hurt my tender pixie hands as I slid down it, rubbing them raw. I nearly cried out, but realized everyone else was able to do it without so much as flinching, so I didn't speak now and forever held my peace.
Well I can say I made it to the bottom of the rope pretty decently. But then as I got within leg reach of the windowsill, I looked down and realized just how high off the ground I was. So for some reason my hands let go of the rope in my fright, and I fell the last foot or so onto the ledge. My legs crumpled beneath me, and I felt myself falling off the ledge.
Before I could rightly fall, however, I felt a pair of strong arms catch me around my waist and pull my upright, back on the ledge. I looked up to see Peter looking down at me, terror written in his eyes and a weak smile plastered on his face. I chuckled nervously, my voice pitching in my anxiety, and buried my face in his chest.
"You're fine, you're fine," he cooed into my hair, stroking my back. He pulled me to my feet and lead me into the Professor's chamber, Susan closing the window after us.
We turned to find Caspian standing beside a large deck covered in papers and books. He was examining a tiny pair of well, glasses-things.
"Where is he?" Susan asked, and Caspian glanced at her.
"Probably in the dungeons. I have to help him."
"You don't have time!" Peter hissed, and glanced at me. I knew he was scared for my safety, and even in this scary time, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Sort of.
"You wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him!" Caspian hissed back. I cleared my throat.
"Can you get to the gatehouse in time?" I asked, and Caspian nodded.
I turned to Peter. "We have to help the professor." When he didn't look convinced, I stroked his arm gently. He gulped and nodded at Caspian, and we all crept from the room.
As we were going along the dark corridor, I couldn't help but look out through the windows at the magnificent view the royal wing had. You could see the entire interior of the castle, and all the towers.
I moved along to the next window as Peter and Susan tried to work out our position, seeing as the Telmarine castles were so confusedly laid out. I moved right up to the sill of this window, staring out into the darkness, trying to spot Emily.
I saw the top tower, where Ed and Emily should be, and I craned my neck to try and see them. I saw a flicker of movement up there, and saw Emily lean against the side of the tower, and Ed seeming to advance upon her.
My eyes widened as he got closer...and closer...
And then the two figures were one.
THEY WERE MAKING OUT!
I let out a squeal, and felt a hand clap over my mouth. Ah shit. I'd forgotten we were in the middle of a night raid. Peter was glaring at me, and I made an apologetic look with my eyes. Thank god, no one had heard me.
Peter moved away, and I pulled Susan over to the window, pointing to the top of the tower where the couple were still intertwined. Susan's eyes widened, and she beamed with happiness.
Peter silently signalled us, and we continued up the hallway towards Miraz's chambers, the couple forgotten. I could have sworn I heard a distant clatter outside, but I wasn't sure.
We approached Miraz's door, and I strung an arrow, ready for the attack.
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Okay, Jordi here.
And I agree with Gabby.
Lack of reviewers make us sad D;
So PRESS THAT BUTTON XD