Right, time to finally get some answers to some questions I'm sure you've all got. Thank you to Le Faucon Bleu and PadrePedro for your reviews. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.

The Girl who Ran

Somehow, Corin managed to sleep that night. He didn't remember when he'd drifted off, but it must have been sheer exhaustion that had finally won out over dreams of his father. And when Corin woke the next morning, he did not feel refreshed. He felt bleary and weak.

He glanced around the cave for Ren and found her standing by the entrance, strapping on her hunting gear. Behind her, the wind whistled and snow fell heavily.

"Snow storm," she said. "We need to get supplies in before it hits us full on."

Corin groaned, but of course they still needed supplies. Thanks to him, they hadn't managed to get anything but Ren's bow and arrows in castle Bar. Corin dragged himself to his feet. His muscles ached and his brain felt fuzzy, but he tried to look like he was fully alert. He felt like he sort of owed it to Ren.

"I'll get the food," said Ren, peering out into the snow. "You gather wood. Then we'll have to hunker down in the cave until the storm passes."

Corin nodded. There was a tightness in her limbs that didn't seem to be from fear of the storm alone – a tightness that got worse when she looked at him.

He knew he should apologise for last night, for leaving the peasant man behind, for running away, but he wasn't sure how. Wasn't sure he could without questioning why he was out here and not back at Anvard with Cor and Aravis.

So he said nothing. Ren waited a moment longer, then started out onto the mountainside.

Corin shook his head and went out after her. The snow was falling thick and steady already, sending shivers through his skin as it caught on his cheeks and nose. He found a dead tree a few metres from the entrance of the cave and began hacking at it with his dagger as Ren scanned the mountainside for prey.

He could at least apologise for pushing her about the scars though, right?

Though he was still curious.

Ripping off a branch, he tried to stamp down his imagination. Bears, wolves, people. Who or what left scars that long?

He shook his head. He knew he was just distracting himself with the mystery because it was easier than trying to find the right words to apologise. He'd never been very good at diplomacy. Cor was much better at it. Corin didn't think enough before he acted and he let his emotions get the better of him.

But Corin couldn't stand the thought of Ren being mad at him much longer. What if she didn't want to talk to him at all for the rest of the trip, except for what was necessary for their survival? What if he had to sit too long with his own thoughts?

He took a sharp, cold breath, then turned towards where Ren was crouched behind a rock. He could do this. He could apologise.

Maybe she'd tell him about her scars another time. Maybe he'd tell her about the night his father had died.

Ren didn't notice his approach at first and he didn't deliberately draw her attention as she aimed her bow at the sky. Every muscle on her back was taught, the arrow drawn full back like she was just waiting for the right moment. A bird circled out from a nest on the rockface and she loosed her arrow.

The bird cawed once and plummeted towards the ground a few feet away. There was a steep drop just beyond its body. Any later and she'd have lost her arrow and their food to the gorge.

"Nice shot," said Corin. And it was. Which made those scars so difficult to believe. He shook his head again.

Ren spun to face him. "Aslan, Corin," she hissed.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

She shook her head as she edged down the mountain to retrieve the bird. "I thought I told you to get wood. There's no wood here."

"I know," said Corin. He wandered over to the rock, leaning a hand against it. But then he decided it made him feel awkward so he crossed his arms over his chest instead.

"We need that wood, Corin," said Ren. "Or do you expect me to do that as well?"

"No, of course not," he said. How had he managed to lose control of the conversation already? Perhaps he should have got the wood first as a peace offering. To soften her opinion of him. Wasn't that what ambassador's were always doing? Bringing gifts.

Ren grabbed the bird and scrambled back up the slope. There were snowflakes in her hair, probably wind-driven from the top of the boulder she'd been crouching behind. He held out his hand to her which felt like a solid gesture, but she raised an eyebrow at him. He grimaced.

"Look, Ren…" he said.

She crossed her arms over her chest, the bird dangling against her body. Oh, this was difficult. He wasn't used to apologising. Not like this. Usually when he apologised, he would do so sulkily because his father had told him to. And usually he was apologising to Cor or Aravis who already knew him well.

Wind whistled around them and down in the gorge below. Corin opened his mouth, but nothing came out. It felt like there were too many things he should be apologising for. Dragging her out into the mountains without any supplies because he hadn't thought about the consequences of his actions, running away from Anvard because he couldn't deal with responsibility, abandoning his own brother and breaking his last promise to his father.

His gaze caught on the scar that tracked onto her neck.

"Just find the wood," said Ren.

Corin winced, but he wasn't going to get anything out. So he started to turn away, but at that moment, the ground shook.

A low, guttural roar echoed through the gorge and through his bones and he felt suddenly hollow and heavy. "What the–?" he said, turning to where he thought the noise had come from, preparing to fight some kind of beast, but all he could see was ice and rock and snow.

And then he heard another sound, the soft crunch of snow. Ren. He turned back to her and his heart leapt into his throat. She stumbled back, eyes vacant, like she couldn't see her surroundings. The bird dropped from her hand and she slipped in the snow.

Then her eyes went wide and panicked. She screamed and his blood ran cold as the air. He scrambled after her, but she tipped over the edge of the gorge and for a gut-wrenching moment, she was falling. Down into the abyss. Corin's mind rushed forward in time and he could see her body crashing onto the rocky outcrops.

Pale.

Dead.

Like his father.

Then he threw himself onto his stomach and his fingers caught flesh, bone, wrist. Ren gasped. Corin grunted as his shoulder took the full strain of her body weight and he had never been so glad he was as strong as he was. The bird tumbled over the edge next to her.

Hold on. He just had to hold on.

Green eyes peered up at him, dazed, terrified.

He had to apologise. He couldn't let her die before he'd apologised.

"Ren," he groaned and her eyes seemed to snap back into focus. Then she wrapped her hand around his arm too and he dragged her up from the gorge, her nails digging into his flesh. Her sleeves had fallen, revealing her raking scars, now pink in the light of day.

Corin's chest contracted as she scrabbled onto the ledge and his eyes stung. For a moment, he wasn't on the mountain. He was at his father's bedside as the man closed his eyes for the last time and his hand went limp in his son's.

"Don't leave me," whispered Corin.

"I'm not going to."

His vision cleared. Ren was crouched on the ground, peering over the edge of the precipice, where the bird had disappeared, where flurries of snow were still falling from the mountainside.

"Are you alright?" asked Corin, gripping her arm.

Wind froze on his cheeks.

"I'm alright," she said, taking a deep breath. Then she looked up at him and her eyebrows lowered. "Are you?"

"Yes," said Corin.

"You're crying," said Ren. Her voice was emotionless. She wasn't trying to tell him to be brave or mock him, just stating a fact.

Corin wiped at his eyes. Cold tears spread over his cheeks and he shivered.

"I'm alright," he said quietly. "I just…I thought you were going to die. And my father…"

She caught his arm.

"You can cry if you want," she said. "I won't judge."

"It's stupid," said Corin, his voice nasally. "You're the one who almost died." And he still hadn't apologised for his behaviour. She could have died and he would have never apologised. His chest felt tight.

"I'm sorry," said Corin. Ren looked momentarily confused. "For last night. I shouldn't have pushed you about the scars. And you were right about the peasant man and me running away."

"No," said Ren. "I shouldn't have got so angry with you, Corin. I know you were only trying to help that peasant man. I'm sorry."

He frowned. "But I thought I was the one who needed to apologise," he said. Ren shrugged and peered back over the ledge.

The wind was howling through the gorge and the snow was falling more viciously.

"What happened?" he said at last. "That roar. You completely zoned out and then you stumbled and the next thing I knew, you were falling."

She bit her lip.

"I've seen people die too," she said quietly and rolled up her sleeves.

"Your beast hunting scars?" said Corin.

"I wasn't hunting beasts back then. I was twelve."

She frowned to herself, like she didn't want to tell him.

"You don't have to tell me," he said.

"You saved my life," said Ren. "I think I should."

Corin said nothing. Even though he'd thought about the scars all evening and all morning, now that the answer to the mystery was being offered, he didn't want to hear it. What would he have to wonder about in the quiet moments if she told him about her scars?

He pushed the thoughts away. He was still being a selfish little prince. If she wanted to tell him about her scars, he should listen. It was the least he could do to apologise for even contemplating what he'd just contemplated.

He gestured for her to continue.

With a heavy sigh, Ren glanced around at the snowy landscape.

"I used to live here," she said, pointing across the mountain range to the East. "One of the mountains up near Stormness. There were quite a few of us actually – a whole village on the side of the mountain."

Corin's skin prickled. Something in Ren's tone made him think of his father. He shook the thought away.

"There was a bear," said Ren. "One of the Narnian ones that came to live in the village with us for a time. He was a scholar, studying artifacts from the Jadis era that had got into Archenland. I used to help him with his digs sometimes, before he decided the artifact he was looking for must be up near the peak of Stormness."

"Anyway, he decamped to Stormness to pursue his studies and we didn't hear from him for a long time. Some people said he must have died. Others said he must have gone home via the East and down through the pass. Meanwhile, there began to circulate rumours. A beast was prowling the mountains, a beast no one in my village had ever heard of before, a beast whose roar shook the very ground for miles."

Corin shuddered.

"People in our village started disappearing," said Ren. "At first just the occasional hunter out on their own or a scout. The village council assured the rest of us there was no danger. Accidents happen all the time in the mountains."

"But then, one of the bodies was found, ripped to shreds. The village council called an emergency meeting. A squad of our best warriors was sent to track and kill the beast. Days passed. Those of us who were left in the village waited and waited. But no word came. There was no sign of the warriors."

"And then on the fifth day, the beast came to the village. It had one of the warrior's necklaces in its paw like it had used it to figure out where they had come from. The bear attacked mercilessly. People were screaming, crying, fighting. My mother ran out with her bow and sword."

"The air smelt like iron and blood. I wanted to help, I wanted to fight, but when I ran out onto the path with my dagger, the beast was right there. Some twisted version of old Narnian scholar. It roared at me and I remember screaming. I remember slashing with my knife. I remember a great black paw whacking into my chest."

"And then I was falling. Down the mountain."

Corin glanced at where she'd almost fallen moments ago.

"There were rocks and trees and I could feel blood on my back and my arm and my shoulder. I landed on the path where it curved back on itself below the village."

Corin's chest tightened. Even though he knew Ren must have survived, he was scared to hear what would come next.

"I picked myself up somehow," said Ren. "I was achey and bleeding and slightly dizzy, but I still had fight in me. I turned towards my village, but I couldn't make myself move."

She shook her head, frowning.

"I should have gone back up that path," said Ren. "I should have fought the beast again with the rest of my village, but I didn't. I turned and I ran."

Corin gave her a pained look. He understood now why she'd been so furious with him last night. Because nothing made a person angry like seeing other people repeat their mistakes.

"I ran," said Ren again. "Like a coward. Through snow and wind. Through hunger and thirst. Until the mountains ceded to grassland and the snow turned to rain. And then I ran some more."

"What happened to the rest of the village?" said Corin.

"They died," said Ren. "All of them. Every mother and father and brother and sister. Every last one."

Corin felt suddenly nauseous. He closed his eyes.

"But not me," said Ren. "I survived because I ran away when my village needed me."

"If you hadn't run, you'd have died as well," said Corin.

"But at least I would have been with the people I loved when they needed me," said Ren.

"You were a child," said Corin.

"I was a coward," said Ren.

"You wouldn't have changed anything."

Ren shook her head. "It doesn't matter now anyway," she said. "Let's just get these supplies and go back to the cave. You run away if you want to Corin. Who am I to judge you?"

The plot thickens. The next chapter is drafted so hopefully I'll get that edited and uploaded in the next 2-3 months or so. I know it's a long wait, but real life prevents me from going any faster right now. And I am still writing this story whenever I can.

Also, I've added the POV name to the chapter navigation for each chapter now so it's easier to reread the last relevant chapter if you want to each time I update.