The Weaver of Narnia

Chapter 3: The Beginning of the Adventures

Disclaimer: see chap 1

Note: I may have gotten some facts wrong, and if I did, and you notice, please tell me and I will try to change it asap.

--------------

A week later, the house was definitely cleaner and Pen had gained a new friend. Derek was a cheerful and knowledge guy. He was always happy and could get along with anyone. He got along well with both her parents and with the other kids their age in the small village and with his younger siblings. Pen had been to his house and met his family. His parents had died in a car crash when he was young and so he was raised by his grandma. He was great with his four younger siblings; two younger brothers split by twin girls. Derek also told her of his older sister and brother who were away. His sister was married and lived in the nearest town 30 miles away and his brother was working in a slightly larger city 50 miles away.

His grandparents on his father's side lived in his father's hometown – the same town his older sister lived in. His grandpa on his mother's side had died of a heart attack when his mother was only 6. His grandma had raised all of her daughter's 6 children herself. At this point she had been widowed for more than twice the amount of time she had been married.

Penelope liked Derek's grandma. She was kind, old, and wrinkly. But she also knew fabulous tales to tell. Sometimes at night; Penelope, Derek, and his younger siblings would crowd around his grandma by the fire and listen to the many tales she knew. She had gotten a job as an art teacher at the nearby school to feed her grandchildren, plus she also was there with her grandchildren all the time.

Because of her teaching she knew history well. She also knew many fairy tales and stories from her own reading. But she also knew about a land called Narnia. Derek's great-great-grandmother was the daughter of a woman called Mrs. Macerdy who had been a sort of maid to Professor Diggory, who used to own Pen's house. She had heard wondrous tales from him, all dealing with a land called Narnia. The tales had passed on through the generations to Derek's family today.

Penelope had taken to sitting with her drawing notebook and a pencil while Derek's grandmother told them tales at night. She would sit by the fire and draw while listening to the descriptions of Narnia. She drew maps of the lands, she drew the many people and creatures in the stories, she drew the scenery, and mostly, she drew Aslan.

As soon as she had heard of Aslan she had taken the old lady aside and questioned her frantically on the lion. She did not learn much, except that he was the son of the Emperor across the sea and was very old and wise. Her head fell dejectedly at this news. The grandmother tried to comfort the girl but she could do nothing. Penelope stayed up late that night pouring over the box from the attic that had gained a spot of honor on her bookshelf.

But every night Penelope would go to bed and sit there and draw. Sometimes she drew Aslan, other times the trees and pools of that odd forest and she drew all aspects of the box. She then went through and made some enlarged drawings of certain plants of animals that fascinated her.

She also would draw pictures of combinations of the people from the stories and wild life from the box. But it was when she was very tired and her hand would move slowly from tiredness and her other hand around the box loosened, that her best pictures came out. Her right hand would start to tingle and she would peer through a sleepy haze at the picture she had no recollection of drawing and stare stupidly at it.

Those pictures always seemed to leap off the page with vibrancy and life despite the lack of color. She was starting to use color pencil and the few she had colored looked real until you looked at them long enough to spot the stillness and pencil strokes.

Grandma Macerdy (as Derek's grandmother insisted she call her) always helped Penelope with her drawings. Penepolpe started to rapidly improve becuase of her constant drawing and with Grandma Macerdy's constant help, she became even better.

But sometimes she would find herself talking to the box late at night. A week after her first visit to that odd world she thought she saw Aslan stalking through some large bushes on the box, but when she turned her head to get a closer look, he was gone. She let loose a large sigh, "I wish I knew what was going on." And with that she turned off her light and went to bed.

----

Three weeks later from Penelope's arrival at the Mansion (as they we're calling her home), Derek and her were back in the attic. Due to cleaning the rest of the house, the attic had been put off until last. They were trying to organize the piles of things into some orderly fashion; it wasn't working to well.

Finally, Pen collapsed into a chair and started coughing as the great cloud of dust she had set free clogged her nostrils. Derek waved the cloud away with a book old book he was holding. "Thanks," she gasped and coughed some more. Then she got a good look at the book he was holding, "Hey, wasn't that over there?" She pointed to the shelf she had found her small wooden box on.

"Yeah, I was thinking of putting it with the other books over there," he started to point out which pile of books, but Pen ignored him, taking the book out of his hands.

"Sorry, thanks," she said quickly, an idea had just occurred to her. She had found this book with the box; maybe there was something about the box transporting her in that book!

She flipped carefully through the yellowed pages, but there was nothing. Finally she stopped on the only likely page, how to turn differing substances into 'Portal Rings' as the book called them. Apparently it was something of a recipe to form dust, dirt, mud, twigs, and other odd objects into rings that would transport the wearer to and from some different place. That was the only mention of dust and going places. She sighed, no good there.

"Hey, what do you want that for?" Derek was trying to read the page upside down, but she quickly shut it before he could finish.

She started to tell him "Nothing," but before she could, she remembered the lion's nod at Derek and made a quick turnaround after a second's thought. "Derek, if I tell you something, can you keep it a secret?"

----

A half hour later, both of them were shut up in the attic once again. They had opened a few windows to let in light and air to the stuffy room and were sitting on the floor at the base of the bookshelf. Derek was turning the box carefully over in his hands, studying the carvings. Penelope was pouring over the books and other objects in the box that she had originally found the wooden box in trying to figure out the wooden box's history or anything else about it. Penelope gave a frustrated sigh and pushed the box of stuff away from her, "Nothing!" she threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Have you tried to touch the dust and go back?" Derek asked her curiously.

"Yeah, I went all tingly and my hands glowed gold away, but nothing else happened." Pen looked at her hands, in the dim light she couldn't even see the faint glimmer that she could see in bright light.

Derek flipped opened the box and started to lower his head to the dust to get a closer look, "Nothing will work, I've tried it before." Penelope reached for him, worried that he might spill the box of dust. She had grabbed onto his arm when a breeze from the open window stirred the dust and blew it into Derek's eyes, immediately a golden flash went off and they were speeding downwards and slowly a forest grew into view. The forest quickly grew larger and they fell spread-eagled onto the dirt of the empty pool, Derek facing upwards on top of Penelope who was lying face-downwards.

"gefkt ofhg meftef!" Pen mumbled loudly.

"What was that?" a dazzled Derek asked, then he realized that he was on top of her and he quickly scrambled up. Penelope levered herself up and spit out dirt. She cut off the curse that she started to say and quickly got up and brushed herself off to hide the quiet moment. Derek smiled at her attempt to cut out the bad part of her growing up in the USA had ingrained and turned to look at the woods again.

When Penelope looked up he was walking amid the trees touching trunks and walking slowly and aimlessly. "Hey! Come back!" Penelope's loud voice echoed through the woods and he turned sharply at the loud crack of noise her voice made in the stillness. He came back and sat at the edge of the ditch with her and they tried to decide what to do now. "'s nice here…" Penelope slurred and slid into the ditch, curling into a sleeping ball.

Derek looked down amused at her but his normal retort was cut off with a yawn and he leaned back on to the grass and fell asleep. Suddenly he let out a yelp and sat upright, Penelope just cracked an eye open. "What 'z it?" she asked sleepily.

"It's the box," Derek sat looking at the box stupidly for a second before her fell back onto the grass the box cradled in his arms. Penelope was already asleep again.

Although time passed, it seemed not to, it was always that comfortable part of the day, neither to hot nor to cold. The light was just right and the trees to thick to let in any direct sunlight.

Next then Penelope knew she woke up to a rough tongue licking her check. She sat up and rubbed her face, shoving the animal away form her. "Geff ouff me." She mumbled. Then her eyes cleared as something breathed on her and she gasped as she saw Aslan's radiant face leaning over her. "Aslan!" she yelped. Aslan licked her one more time and Penelope was surprised to find herself hugging him in an exuberance of childish joy.

The Aslan leaned back and Penelope clambered upright. Aslan spoke to her in his deep rumbling voice and said, "Now child, wake your friend, you are now ready to help me as you have promised." Penelope scrambled out of the hole and shook Derek, his tousled head slowly rose and he parted his unruly hair to look out.

His purple eyes were half closed in sleepiness but he wouldn't wake up at all as Penelope babbled at him. Then she started to shake him and he opened his eyes. "Derek! Derek! Derek wake up! Aslan is here! You remember? The lion I told you about?" Derek swiveled his head until he caught sight of Aslan. Penelope watched as the purple and brown eyes locked and held.

Penelope watched in wonderment as the sleepiness flew from Derek's eyes and they seemed to shine with an inner light. She squinted at his eyes, 'They really are shining!' She shook her head and thought, 'Man, this light is bright here!'

Slowly, without his eyes ever leaving Aslan, Derek stood up and bowed to him, "I have known you sir. Of that much I am certain."

The lion let forth a small rumbling and said, "Yes, Son of Adam, you have know me most of your life." Aslan walked towards him and Derek's seemed to be fine. But Pen noticed his hands clenching into fists and his jaw clenching shut tightly. Aslan opened his mouth and Derek's hands clenched in fists so tightly his knuckles turned white but he did not step backwards or cringe. Aslan breathed and Penelope watched, Derek relaxed and smiled. Then Derek ran towards the lion and buried himself in the deep mane of fur hugging him.

"Now, Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve, follow me and I will show you where you must go." Aslan walked in his floating smooth gait towards the tree Penelope had first touched. "Daughter, give me your hands." Penelope held out her hands, the glow had died away into the skin but when she held her hands at funny angles she could see the glitter still.

"Son, I believe you carry a pocket knife." It was a statement, not a question. And indeed Derek did, he used it for the opening of packages and cutting tape to bind packages, it was extremely useful but now Derek grew nervous. He drew it out and Aslan instructed him to open up the small blade. Then he told him to prick the palm of both of Penelope's hands and his paws.

Derek of course protested, but did as he was told. When a small pearl of blood beaded the valley of the four palms, Penelope looked down. Sweat fell in trickles down her back as she gazed at the blood on her hands and the small bit of blood in Aslan's fur. Then Aslan lifted his paws and told her to put her hands on his.

Penelope did so, and that was when her hands underwent a major change. Before they had changed, but now they fully evolved. The skin turned from a gold shimmer to a full-out glow. She had several cuts on her hands from working and she noticed they were all gone as well as a wart scar she got when she was younger on her middle finger. But the two small pricks where Derek had broken her skin were still there.

The blood on both of their palms mingled and Penelope felt some sort of magic mingle with her blood and veins. She felt pure light rush through her. In it's wake, it left her feeling somber but extremely happy and clear headed. She stared at Aslan with eyes that seemed to see more of the history and reasons why things worked, rather than the outward appearance.

She touched the fur on Aslan's mane and through her fingers felt the pulse of light she had felt beat within him and now inside herself.

"Son of Adam come here. I believe the dust touched you as well?"

"Well, yes sir. It was in my eyes," Derek pointed to his eyes, "But I think it's all gone now." He shrugged.

Aslan stepped to Derek and licked his eyes. Derek gave a weak, "Hey!" and smiled as he started to rub his now wet eyes, but Aslan stopped him.

"Wait," His deep rumbling voice commanded. So Derek waited. He squirmed and itched and yearned to rub his eyes but he didn't.

Finally Aslan breathed on him again and then leaning in, rubbed Derek's face with his mane. Derek laughed at the feel of the fur tickling him and when Aslan stepped away he was still smiling. And his eyes shone. There were many shadows here with all the trees about them and Penelope realized that his eyes shone in the shadows. So his eyes weren't just reflecting light, or at least, not this world's light.

"Now you are ready. Come children, you are needed." Aslan nodded at the tree and Penelope seemed to know what to do. She took both of Derek's hands and pressed them against the tree underneath her own hands and then she closed her eyes and concentrated, suddenly they seemed to fall trough the trunk and down through a whirling storm of colors.

The colors picked them up and whirled them about. Derek shouted to Penelope over the loud wind, "What are you doing?"

"I don't know I can see where I am going!" Derek's eyes narrowed.

Then they heard Aslan say, "Remember, you will need each other, trust and love in one another."

Suddenly Derek pressed his forehead against Penelope's and said so quietly that she couldn't hear it but heard it in her head as a small quiet voice that drowned out all the other noises in her head nonetheless said, "Let me be your eyes." And then they landed.

They were upright leaning against each other with their hands gripped together and their foreheads touching. For a second Penelope thought it had not worked and they were back in the woods and then she heard a voice behind her, "And pray tell, who in the name of the Great Lion himself, are you?"

--------------

There you have it! Hope you're enjoying it so far! I'm working on a story of The Golden Age as I said and so I think when she meets people in this, it will incorporate with my story as well. Not sure yet! We'll see!

Please keep reading and review!

Kit

REVIEW PELASE!

l

l

l

l

\/