THE SWORD slips from my fingers and fear shoots through me like lightning, spurring my body into action. The change happens so fast I almost don't realize I'm a fraction of my former size and hurtling through the air as a hawk. Adrenaline surges through my veins, nullifying the pain that should accompany my transformation. From behind me, Susan is shouting. "Stay away from her!" But the bear thundering after Lucy as she runs desperately to her siblings is completely wild.

Another transformation tears through my body mid-air, a powerful, furious roar exploding from deep in my chest before my paws even hit the pebbled ground. The black bear doesn't falter from the sudden appearance of another bear and roars back, equally as enraged. The sinewy muscles beneath my rusty fur are strong and coiled as I charge without pause, ready to defend my queen.

Lucy trips and sprawls across the ground, screaming in terror as the beast bears down on her. Determination rushes through me and another, angrier roar rips through my throat before I launch myself at the massive animal.

The bear rises on his hind legs with a deafening roar as I slam into him. He snaps his jaws at me as we crash to the ground in an angry heap of claws and teeth and fur. I scramble to find my balance and bite at any exposed fur I find, striking at his head with my heavy paws, praying Lucy makes it to safety.

The animal stands up, towering over me for a moment before he surges forward with bared teeth. I meet him halfway, my own jaws wide open and snapping at his massive face. Metallic blood fills my mouth and then he breaks my momentary hold, claws scratching my sides as he pushes me away. Heat floods my wounds and I barely have time to stand up again before he's upon me with a bellowing roar, slamming his paws into me and biting ferociously at my neck.

Lucy is screaming and someone else is yelling but all I can focus on is avoiding claws and teeth and keeping the beast far away from them.

He gets his mouth around my throat and I thrash violently before his teeth can pierce flesh. I get my paws on the bear's chest and throw him off of me with as much force as I can muster. He's definitely heavier than that boat.

The animal skids across the ground, sending pebbles flying and skittering in all directions. He rises up onto his back legs with an enraged roar that I match in volume.

An arrow buries itself into his shoulder. Susan.

Infuriated, he turns toward his new assailant and another arrow — this one smaller — sinks into his heart, turning his hostile roar agonized. All the tension in my body evaporates when the black bear collapses into a motionless heap.

A pained, shuddering breath wracks my chest as I drop down to all four paws and catch my breath. All at once, my aching muscles and limbs hit me — harder than the bear's paws had.

"Arryn!"

Lucy. I turn around. Weapons at the ready, the Pevensies and Trumpkin are hurrying toward me and the dead bear with Lucy in the lead, her short brown hair flying behind her.

"Oh, Arryn!" She cries, throwing her arms around my neck in a desperate hug. Susan watches the exchange sadly. With his sword drawn next to Peter, Edmund glances anxiously between me and his sister and the motionless black bear Trumpkin examines. I try to convey through my eyes that I'm fine, and he relaxes significantly. Lucy's grip tightens around me while her fingers grab handfuls of my thick fur, still shaken from nearly being mauled by the bear.

"Are you okay?" I breathe.

Face buried in my fur, she makes a strange noise; it's somewhere between a choked sob and laughter. "I'm alright," she says quietly. "Thank you. Are you hurt?"

"Only a little," I reply, watching the dwarf use his bow to poke the unmoving bear experimentally.

"He was wild." Even though he says it, Edmund doesn't seem to believe it. Lucy releases me slowly, peeking nervously at the black bear as if it might come back to life at any second.

"I don't think he could talk at all," Peter says, sharing a confused look with his brother.

Trumpkin sighs; he looks grim. "Get treated like a dumb animal long enough," he produces a small dagger from his belt, "...that's what you become." The dwarf kneels down next to the bear and begins to skin it. "You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember."

Lucy flinches at the gruesome sight and turns to press her face into my fur again. I lean into the young queen, letting her know I'm there.

"Thank you."

I'm surprised to hear Peter's voice, and when I look up, his blue eyes are already on me, heavy with unspoken gratitude. I incline my large head to him and gently nudge Lucy along, away from the carcass. She lets me lead her back to the boat alongside her siblings, who are all silent with grief. I can't imagine how they must feel: seeing Narnia, their once beautiful country, reduced to a downtrodden, brutal land — barely a shadow of its former grandeur.

Lucy's hold around my neck has loosened now that we've settled down further from the bear, and when Edmund approaches and she looks over at him, I can hardly tell she was just about in tears a few minutes ago. Strong, brave little queen.

Smiling, Edmund holds up the wet dress I left behind, knowing all too well how I'd like to return to my preferred form.

"Oh." Lucy smiles and steps away from me. "Right," she says, "sorry."

I feel my heart deflate when her soft hands disappear from my fur. Shaking away my disappointment, I get to my paws. "It's alright," I say, making sure to keep the pain from clouding my voice.

Edmund, however, doesn't miss it. "Ryn."

I swing my head around toward the boy. "I'm fine," I insist. But he's not looking at me. He's looking at the bloodstained pebbles beneath me.

Lucy gasps. "You're hurt!" She exclaims, blue eyes skipping over me in concern. Her hands fly to the little glass bottle secured to her belt. "Here," she says, extracting the cordial. "This will help."

I'm about to protest — insist the invaluable medicine be saved for someone else — but the queen fixes me with a hard look I didn't know she's capable of before I can say anything. "Please." Lucy's voice is soft as she holds the cordial carefully in her hands, her eyes hopeful and pleading.

"Alright," I sigh, lowering my head in resignation. She grins victoriously and tips the bottle so a single drop falls onto my tongue. Before I can register the taste, a sensation like glowing sunlight rushes over me like water and warms my body to the bone. The lacerations from the bear's claws on my sides tingle for a moment before it, along with the aches and pains plaguing my muscles, dissipate. I feel as if I've been placed inside a brand new body.

Lucy grins hugely. "Better?" She asks, returning the cordial to her belt.

"Yes," I breathe. "Thank you."

She laughs and runs her fingers through the fur on my shoulder one last time before heading over to Susan, who's leaning against the rowboat watching the three of us with a soft smile, Peter having left to help Trumpkin. I turn around to face Edmund, who's shaking his head at me.

"What?" I ask.

He starts walking toward the trees, my dress in hand. "You're quite possibly the most stubborn person I've met."

I roll my eyes and follow him with a new, excited bounce in my gait. "I haven't felt this great since ever," I say wondrously. He laughs, watching me bound excitedly across the rocky shore. The magical medicine must have replenished my energy as well as healed me because my body does not want to stop moving.

"We could have that match while Trumpkin and Peter finish with the bear," I offer, slowing my pace to wait for Edmund to catch up.

"Lucy just healed you," he points out drily. "And you want to go and get yourself hurt again?"

I huff dejectedly, knowing he's right. "Fine," I mutter. And I rush forward into the woods before he catches up because I simply can't stand still. That medicine is unbelievable.

Edmund calls my name and I hear him chase through the undergrowth after me. I'm hardly worried about getting lost; I know these lands inside and out, I could navigate them in my sleep. I would, however, be worried about losing Edmund, but he's making so much noise crashing after me that it'd be near impossible.

I find myself in a small, rocky clearing, a blanket of green moss carpeting the earth. My paws sink into the soft ground, and I decide to sit here and wait for Edmund. I hadn't been running too fast, so it isn't long before the dark-haired king stumbles into the open, green space breathing heavily. "What'd you do that for?" He demands, catching his breath.

"Sorry," I say. Though I'm not, really. Just like he's not really upset, but actually holding back laughter.

Edmund straightens and thrusts the damp dress in my direction. "Please just take this, already," he says tiredly. I laugh and hold out a paw.

Edmund dumps the article of clothing into my grasp. "Thank you."

"Turn around," I order.

He sighs dramatically and turns his back to me. Holding the dress against my chest, I finally revert to my human form, revelling in what feels like my first painless transformation in years. Quickly, I slip the dress on and take a few moments to admire my skin, still scarred but no longer marked with colourful bruises. I look up at the boy in front of me, who's still turned around and has his arms crossed, waiting for my 'okay.'

I purse my lips thoughtfully. "Can I ask you something?"

A breath of soft laughter escapes him. "Go for it."

I chew on the inside of my lip anxiously. "...Do you think we can win against the Telmarines?"

"Of course," he answers assuredly. "The moment you lose faith in Narnia and in Aslan...that's when you lose. But as long as there's hope, we can do almost anything." He falls silent for a moment. "Lucy helped me learn that," he says almost abashedly.

A thoughtful frown works its way across my mouth. "I hope she can teach the rest of the Narnians," I mutter ruefully. "Many of us stopped believing a long time ago."

"...Have you?" He asks.

I almost laugh. "I'm not sure I believe in Aslan appearing after all these years to save us," I admit. "But I never lost faith in Narnia." Never. Not once.

Edmund turns around, his brown irises warm and bright. A teasing grin twists my lips. "Edmund Pevensie," I declare mockingly, "what if I'd been naked?"

He shrugs, not at all sheepish. My jaw drops and I smack his arm, causing him to laugh.

"Edmund!"

"I was joking!" He insists poorly.

Swallowing my laughter, I shake my head at him and begin the walk back to the river. "Come on," I call over my shoulder. "Let's go tell them we've found a place to make camp."

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author's note

so the first draft of this chapter included a super cute moment between arryn & edmund, but when i looked back on this story and reread all the chapters i realized things were moving way too fast, even with...well, i ain't gonna say because spoilers lol. so yeah, anyways, i edited all the chapters before releasing this story and rewrote the clearing scene to make it a little more plausible/believable. even though it made me very sad, I'm much happier to see it more realistic.

speaking of realistic, i literally spent an hour watching youtube videos of bears fighting to get an idea of their movements and all that. and it's really just a lot of roaring and then they stand up and ram into each other, swinging their paws and biting. i did my best to embody that natural, animalistic style, but arryn isn't a mindless animal so she was able to fend him off with a little more grace and strategy. but yeah, hope that scene wasn't too boring or...weirdly written idk i tried my best lmao

i'm currently updating this story every 4–7 days, but since i'm not exactly busting out whole chapters that fast, updates might start to come a little slower. i'm trying my best to write as much as i can and i'm really hoping to turn this thing around and start releasing chapters every 2–4 days instead, which would be awesome!

please review!