Redemption

Thax to Fledge, Forever Young, Robert, Animegirl-mika, Saicho-18, Elenea, Fire Arrow, Arcee The Rain Child Cyliawoodelf, IntriKate, Star-Daughter and one anonymous reviewer who reviewed my prologue. Sorry this took so long to get out guys!

I don't own any thing to do with tCoN except the places and characters I make up myself.

Chapter 1 - You are not alone

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It was getting dark before Eustace got off his train and he had to walk for at least 20 kilometres before he reached his destination. Minutes passed into hours, it kept getting darker, and he was tiring by the minute. He was walking across a bare paddock by the time he had decided to call it a night. Now, this wouldn't have normally been a problem for Eustace, but for the fact that he was already upset and anxious. Every little noise seemed to make him jump. He knew he was in for a restless night. That's when he saw it. About 10 meters away he saw a figure, or what he thought was a figure rustling in the bush and two white dots reflecting in the moonlight. That's all the encouragement that Eustace needed. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him and he didn't stop until he knew for certain that what ever it was in that bush was far behind him. When he finally stopped running, he discovered that he was only about a hundred meters from the old school. He almost considered going and waking Edmund up that night but he really didn't want to attract that kind of negative attention. He slept away the rest of the night in the open field, far away from any bushes or rocks where any unwelcome visitors might have been be hiding.

The next day, Eustace found his way to the entrance of the schoolhouse. He was still somewhat confused as to what he was actually doing but it didn't matter, his mind was made up. It was as simple as that. He entered into the main hall and took a look around. It wasn't nearly as big and nice as his school. The roof was much lower and there wasn't nearly as many portraits hanging on the walls as there were in his school, but it felt pleasant and homely, almost, dare he think it? Narnian. "Narnian? Where did that come from?" he thought. He'd never as much been in a Narnian house let alone a Narnian hall.

He'd come back to Earth when he was approached a tall, strict looking teacher. She was wearing a plain dark green dress and her hair neatly done up in a neat tight bun.

"May I help you young man?" she said

"Yes, my cousin Edmund Pevensie is staying here," Eustace explained, "I was wondering if I could see him"

The teacher looked at him suspiciously

"Do your parents know that you're here?" she asked.

"Of course" he snapped, but then he realised that that wasn't going to be enough to satisfy and added quickly, "they're in the city shopping"

She gave him another hard look and said, "Very well", and then showed him up to a room on the second floor.

Eustace knocked on the door nervously. It had never crossed his mind before what his cousin would think about his running away. Would Edmund let him stay or would he force him to go back to his parents? Why was he there anyway? He had hardly the time to finish that thought when the door opened.

"Eustace!" cried Edmund.

"Hallo Ed" said Eustace with a smirk. The look on Edmund's face was priceless.

"What are you doing here?" asked Edmund, "Are you going to come to this school after all?"

"No such luck. My parents still remain as stubborn as ever"

There was a short silence then Edmund said, "Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners. Please come in."

Eustace followed him into a modestly attired room. I say modest but it was really very comfortable with everything a boy could need in a bedroom plus a few extras. They sat down on a soft feather bed.

"Not meaning to sound rude Eustace but you still haven't told me why you're here. Where are you parents?"

"Oh." stumbled Eustace, "My people are in the city shopping"

Eustace hated lying to his cousin but he wasn't really sure what else to do. He didn't really want to go back to his parents just yet. Fortunately for Eustace, Edmund knew him better than that, he could see right through him.

"Oh pull the other one Eustace!"

"What?"

"You've run away haven't you?"

Eustace was shocked. "How... how did you know?"

"Your eyes gave you away," Edmund said. "No one out for a day of shopping would look so nervous"

"You're right, I did run away. I came here because I need to talk to you"

"Eustace, as much as I am glad that you wanted to talk me, why would you run away from home to do it?"

"Well what would you do in my situation?" cried Eustace. Tears were beginning to roll down his cheeks. "They act like they don't even care what I think. We used to work things out as a family you know but now they treat me like an infant who doesn't know what he wants"

"Wow, slow down." Said Edmund, "You're talking about your parents right"

"Yeah" said Eustace, wiping his nose, "you know they even had the nerve to say it was because you and Lucy, and that's why I can't come here for school"

"I'm sensing that there's a bit more to it than that"

"What do you think I should do?"

"I don't think that you came here for me to tell you whether you should go home or not"

"That's true," said Eustace, "but all the same I still need some advice"

Edmund got up and walked over to his window and stared thoughtfully out the window and said with out looking back at Eustace, "What would Aslan want you to do?"

Eustace tears stopped and he walked over to his cousin.

"You're pretty close to him aren't you" Eustace said enviously, "I mean, you know him well… Of course you do, you were in Narnia for years"

Edmund looked up and half smiled. "I wouldn't say I know him well… But I do have my own story…" Edmund looked away suddenly but Eustace caught a glimpse of the pain in his face.

"You OK Ed?"

"Yeah. Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure"

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Edmund and Eustace walked out in the vast gardens of the school courtyard and surveyed their surroundings. It was a beautiful garden with as many different colours as one could hope for and it had everything from little shrubs to great big Fir Trees.

"You know Edmund," said Eustace, "This school is really great. Not at all like mine."

"I'm glad my parents sent me here" Edmund replied, "I like it here, it reminds of Cair Paravel for some reason." It was now or never, Edmund thought. He had to know that he wasn't alone in all of this. Edmund took a deep breath and said, "Eustace there's something I need to tell you about. I know you didn't want to hear it before but I hope that you'll listen now"

"OK" Eustace said uncertainly

"You say that you can't forgive your parents right"

"Yeah, and why should I. Just because they are so narrow minded that they can't see that such a thing could be true…"

"And what was it that you said to me not a month ago. 'Kids that play games about Narnia…'"

"Gradually get balmier and balmier" Eustace finished and then fell silent.

"You see, you've got remember that you were once like them, but now because of what Aslan did for you, you're a different person"

"Yeah, but who else has had to suffer the torment of being a dragon to get the help that they needed"

"Well, there is a story in Narnian Folktales about a boy who betrayed his sister by taking service under an evil witch. He thought that by doing this that she would make him a prince of Narnia so he slipped away during dinnertime and went to the witch's house. It was only there that the witch revealed her plans to kill his siblings and the boy realised the terrible thing that he had done."

"How horrible!" cried Eustace.

"The witch decided that she had no more use for the boy and was just about to kill him when Aslan's flying beasts came to rescue him. But it was already too late. You see, the witch had a claim on the boy's blood because he was a traitor. Aslan however talked the witch into killing him instead of the boy. So that night the witch killed Aslan with knife on the Stone Table."

Both Edmund and Eustace were crying silently through this tale and then Eustace gasped with realisation, "So that's what that knife on the table was, at the 'Island at the End of the World' I mean. Now I remember, Lucy did mention something about that there. But I don't understand. Aslan looked perfectly alive when I saw him."

"That the best part of the story. You see, because of the sacrifice Aslan made for the traitor, he came back to life. He then defeated the witch and put everything right in Narnia"

"Wow", said Eustace, "I would like to meet this guy to find out what happened to him"

Edmund sighed. Eustace could be a little on the slow side sometimes.

"You already know him Eustace." Eustace looked puzzled. "The boy, the traitor that Aslan saved is me"

Eustace's mouth dropped wide open and said, "And that's what happened when you first came to Narnia. No I can't believe it, you're such a nice guy"

"It's true. And you know what the most surprising thing is? After all that he made me a king along with my brother and sisters."

"Gosh"

"So that's why you should forgive your parents. Because he forgave you."

"But now I've messed up again and…" Eustace stopped. Something behind one of the trees had caught his eye.

"What's the matter?"

"Shh. I thing we're being watched. There's someone behind that tree. No don't look. Let's sneak up on him," Eustace hissed.

The boys walked away from each other and went to the opposite sides of the tree. On the count of three they both jumped to grab him. It was Eustace who finally managed to get a hold of him by locking the boy's elbows into his behind his back. (A handy trick he had learnt from his many years of bullying).

Edmund stood up and said firmly, "Who are you and why were you listening to us. I just might have to tell the school mistress….."

Edmunds heart skipped a beat

The boy's clothes,

They were Narnian!

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Like it. If so you can move on to the next chapter "The Stranger"