Chapter 21: I Am Prince Caspian

Joey kept his Chain Thrasher at the ready as the group arrived at the same spot they were in earlier that day.

"NOW what?" Riley asked.

"I think we should…" Maya stepped onto a piece of land, but it immediately gave way, causing her to drop out of sight!

"MAYA!" everyone shouted.

Joey darted over, expecting to see Maya dangling off something. What he DIDN'T expect to see Maya standing on a rock, which was going down towards the gorge. Completely invisible to those who weren't looking for it.

"Guess this is our way down." Riley said.

"And I think our Dear Little Friend was wrong." Joey grinned as he stepped down.

"Oh, that's not patronizing at all, is it?" Trumpkin asked, sarcastically.

The group soon arrived at Aslan's Howe—the large hill where the Stone Table once stood, where the White Witch killed Aslan, where the Stone Table cracked in half, and where Aslan had returned to kill the Witch and restore peace to Narnia.

The group immediately saw two badgers, which were standing in front of the entrance like sentinels.

"Stop!" one of the badgers barked, "Who is it?!"

"Trumpkin the Dwarf and Reepicheep the Mouse." Trumpkin replied, "Bringing two Keybladers."

"And…me." Riley added.

The badger's faces lightened considerably.

"At last…" one said, "Go on ahead!"

The five immediately walked into the cave. As soon as their spelunking deal began, Joey, Maya, and Riley noticed certain designs on it. Joey looked over them to see pictures of Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Sakuzy, and someone who looked remarkably like Joey, except with a chain around his arm and midsection, hair tied back into a ponytail, and a coat that resembled that of Organization XIII.

"That guy looks…" Joey said. The group looked at him. However, the Chain Thrasher wielder simply looked impressed with the figure as he finished with two simple words, "Unusually handsome."

The group continued through the cave until they came to what appeared to be a dead-end.

"We came all this way just to meet a stone wall?" Joey asked, silently.

"This 'stone wall' is the door." Trumpkin sighed. Suddenly, people were talking, "Be quiet!"

"We have tried the horn and it has failed!" a low voice snapped.

"That's an old friend of mine, Nikkabrik." Trumpkin said.

"Help WILL come." An elderly voice barked, "It might even be at this door!"

"That's Trufflehunter, a badger." Reepicheep said.

"It has been rumored among the army that we have used the ancient horn and it has failed." A third voice said.

"I think that's Doctor Cornelius." Trumpkin said, uncertainly.

"You stuck your nose in a hornet's nest, half dwarf, if you're gonna suggest that I am the blab!" Nikkabrik's voice snapped, "TAKE IT BACK!"

"Stop it!" shouted a voice with a Spanish accent, "I want to hear this idea that Nikkabrik keeps hinting we should do, along with those two who listen, but keep silent."

"That was the Telmarine, Prince Caspian." Trumpkin stated.

"They are…friends of mine." Nikkabrik replied.

"You wish to defeat Miraz?" asked a somewhat cracked, female voice, "You need hate. NOBODY hates better than us."

"I think I know what YOU are." The voice of Cornelius replied, "What about your other friend?"

"I am hunger. I am thirst." Replied a low, feral voice, "Where I bite, I hold 'til I die. And even when I die, you must cut out my mouthful and bury it with me! I can fast a hundred years and not starve. I can lay a hundred nights on ice and not freeze. I can drink a river of blood and not burst. Show me your enemy!"

"As I was saying," the voice of Nikkabrik continued, "We tried the horn and it has failed. We TRIED the wielders of the Keyblades and they have not come."

"Or they are on their way." The voice of Trufflehunter objected.

"You can say that until Miraz feeds ya to the dogs!" Nikkabrik barked, "As I was saying, we called on the Key Bearers and it didn't work. But legends speak of something else."

"You mean Aslan?" Cornelius' voice asked.

"Wouldn't he just as well send the Keyblade wielders as come himself?" Trufflehunter asked.

"I'm not talking about Aslan. I'm talking about a power so greater than Aslan that it held Narnia SPELLBOUND for a hundred years!" Nikkabrik said, voice rising, "I'm talking about the White Witch! She stamped out the beavers I say, because there's none of their folk in Narnia now. She bound Aslan on this table and KILLED him!"

"Didn't the old stories say he came back?" Caspian asked, "Didn't he put the four kings and queens on their thrones?"

"A king who just won a war can crown himself without a performing lion!" Nikkabrik snapped, "Perhaps the reason the old tales don't mention Aslan anymore was because there was nothing TO mention?! Besides, Aslan wasn't always friends with the dwarfs or even to all you beasts, ask the wolves. Besides, you're mistreating my people! Who goes on all the dangerous raids? Dwarfs! Who goes short when the rations fail? DWARFS!"

"LIES, ALL LIES!" shouted Trufflehunter.

"And if you can't help my people, I'll go to someone who CAN!" Nikkabrik continued, ignoring Trufflehunter.

There was a sound of a sword being drawn and Caspian demanded, "Is this open treason, dwarf?!"

"Stop! STOP!" Cornelius barked, "What is Nikkabrik getting at? The Witch is dead. ALL the old stories agree on that."

"The gracious doctor is only poking fun at us when he says that." The female voice cackled, "Whoever heard of a witch that REALLY died?! YOU CAN ALWAYS BRING THEM BACK!"

There was a scuffle as the growly voice said, "They're ready. Prepare the Heartless!"

"So, THAT is your plan, Nikkabrik!" Caspian snarled, "Using the Heartless and calling up an accursed ghost! I know who your companions are NOW—A HAG AND A WEREWOLF!"

Upon those words, the four heroes burst in to see a badger and someone who looked like Trumpkin, but with gray hair and beard and was slightly taller, were pinned down by something that looked like a bipedal wolf. The third person was being held by a strange, old woman and a dwarf with black hair. In front of them was a large wall of ice with the figure inside. However, the ice was only about two feet thick, so no one could have been frozen in there. No LIVING person…

The figure inside was a tall woman with white skin, blonde hair, and a robe that seemed to be made of polar bear skin.

"Beards and bedsteads!" Trumpkin exclaimed out of sheer terror, "It's the White Witch!"

"One drop of Adam's blood,…" the White Witch said in a soft voice, extending her hand through the ice, "And I shall return."

"BACK OFF, MIDGET!" Joey shouted, summoning his Treasure Seeker as Maya summoned the Two-Winged Angel.

Trumpkin and Reepicheep pulled out their swords as Riley ducked out of sight. Treasure hunting may have been his shtick, but fighting…nah.

The ugly woman, who was a hag, screeched and bolted at Maya, who barely blocked with her Keyblade.

Reepicheep pulled out his sword as the werewolf howled and pounced at the mouse. Reepicheep, however, ducked under the werewolf's legs and caught him. The werewolf snarled in surprise, then turned on the mouse, who tossed his rapier into the air and caught it again.

"Is that all, foul beast?" the mouse said, pointing his sword at the werewolf.

It was a bit amusing to see such a fierce beast being beaten by a rodent, some people admitted.

Joey shoved the third person out of the circle, but was caught in there himself. The woman gave him a seductive smile.

"Joyex." She said, "It has been too long."

Joey looked around to see if she was addressing anyone else. On seeing no one, he scratched his head. "Who're you talking about?" he asked, slightly frustrated that some people were mistaking him for someone else, "I'm Joey. JO-EY. Get it?"

"I also know of your quest." The woman, who was the White Witch, said, holding out an inviting hand. "One drop of your blood and I can arise to destroy the Seekers for you."

Joey gripped his Keyblade. Was he SERIOUSLY considering helping this evil tyrant return?! Sure, they needed all the help they could get with the Seekers, but that wasn't enough reason to return someone who commanded the Heartless…or was it?

"One drop and I'm…"

A reasonably large rock then flew through the ice, and the White Witch screamed as her icy window shattered like glass. Standing behind the ice sheet wasn't Trumpkin, Reepicheep, or Maya.

It was…Riley.

For a while, Riley just stared at the floor, which was still frosty. And after a bit of an awkward silence, he finally spoke. "That's it?" Riley asked, "That's all we gotta do? Well, that was anti-climatic…"

"Thanks, Riley." Joey said, "I was probably close to making a huge mistake…"

"No problem." Riley replied, "Heard she was a royal pain in the butt anyway."

Maya and Trumpkin walked out while Reepicheep stayed on top of his defeated enemy. The mouse was standing atop the werewolf, triumphantly, his sword lodged into the wolfman's gut.

"Jeez, we're hardly here for three seconds and already someone's tried to kill us." Riley stated, "This is a WHOLE new level of weird…"

Joey pulled out a stopwatch, which he clicked. He started slightly. "Hey, it IS a new record." Joey said.

"You keep a RECORD of how quickly someone tries to kill you?" Riley asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes, I do." Joey answered, "With MY kinda personality…"

"Who are you, anyway?" Maya asked the young man, who had a Spanish look to him.

"I am Prince Caspian." Replied the person with a clear accent.

Nikkabrik

A dwarf originally aligned with Caspian, but he went sour inside from years of suffering and hating. He lost hope that Aslan would help them and turned to the White Witch for assistance. THIS resulted in his death. He first appeared in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 2008.

Hag

A vile creature of black magic who tried to help Nikkabrik and a werewolf resurrect the White Witch. They are naturals in the field of witchcraft and resurrection. She appeared in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 2008.

Werewolf

A vile combination of wolf and man who tried to help Nikkabrik and a hag resurrect the White Witch. He claims that he is the incarnation of hunger. He appeared in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 2008.

Trufflehunter the Badger

One of the Talking Beasts of Narnia. He was the first to believe that good could come from Caspian because, like all other Talking Beasts, he remembered that the land of Narnia was never right unless it was ruled by a Son of Adam or a Daughter of Eve. He first appeared in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 2008.

Prince Caspian

Originally Miraz's successor, but ran away when he found out that Miraz planned to kill him…just like his father. He gathered the remnants of Narnia into an army to take back their rightful land. He narrowly escaped being forced to revive the White Witch, but it was a good thing Joey and co. got there to help. He first appeared in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 2008.