A/N: Hey snowflakes. Love you all and thanks for the support. Enjoy and review.
Ivy's P.O.V.
As we row down the clear Glasswater river, Lucy looks up at the trees above and sighs.
"They're so still." Her voice is so sad it almost makes me feel emotions. Trumpkin being the tough man he is and not really understanding sensitivity responds with.
"They're trees. What do you expect?" I roll my eyes and subtlety hit him in the shoulder. He gives me a confused look and I shake my head but it's too late.
"They used to dance." Lucy says as she looks back at the water with a tearful expression. Trumpkin looks to me, as if asking what did he do wrong.
"It wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines invaded. Those that survived, retreated into the woods. And the trees have retreated so deeply inside themselves that no one has heard from them since." Trumpkin explains as he looks up the cliff at the trees that use to dance and sway. I start to remember what Narnia was like before the the Telmarines and even before the White Witch. I smile at the memories of me and my friends running through the forest or chasing each other down the beach.
"I don't understand. How could Aslan have let this happen?" Lucy questions as we near a large and beautiful waterfall. I visibly tense at hearing the name of my father.
"Aslan? I thought he abandoned us after you lot did." Trumpkin says.
"We didn't mean to leave, you know." Peter says as he turns around as much as he can while still rowing the boat.
"We know it wasn't your fault." I say with a reassuring smile.
"Doesn't make much difference now, does it?" Trumpkin asks sarcastically.
"Get us to the Narnians and it will." Peter says with a large amount of confidence. We all stay in complete silence as we continue down the river. Once we finally reach the shore, we all climb out of the boat.
"Want some help?" Edmund asks as he holds his hand out for me to take. I smile and accept his hand as he helps me get out of the boat. Normally I'd be fine, but the dress I am wearing is not exactly a friend to me and I probably would have face planted trying to get out of the boat on my own. As Susan, Peter, Edmund, and myself help Trumpkin tie the boat down, I can hear Lucy saying something a little further away from us.
"Hello there! … It's alright, we're friends." Lucy says as she starts to walk toward a bear that had just came out of the woods. The bear stands up on two legs and looks at Lucy like she's a piece of fish.
"We need to get her out of there." I say as I begin to walk toward her.
"Don't move, your majesty!" Trumpkin yells. The bear charges at Lucy and Susan puts an arrow to the string of her bow.
"Stay away from her!" Susan shouts as she gets ready to fire. Everyone begins to panic when she doesn't shoot right away.
"Susan, shoot!" Edmund yells. The bear gets closer to Lucy who is now screaming at the top of her lungs. Just before it could get closer, an arrow hits the bear and it falls over.
"Nice shot." I say to Susan.
"That wasn't me." We all look back to see that it was Trumpkin who fired the kill shot.
"Why wouldn't he stop?" Susan questions.
"I expect he was hungry." Trumpkin slyly responds. We all run over to where Lucy is still on the ground staring at the dead bear. Once we reach her, Peter helps her to her feet and keeps his sword pointed at the bear.
"He was wild." Edmund comes to the conclusion.
"I don't think he could talk at all." Peter says as he sheathes his sword but still keeps his arm around Lucy in a protective manner.
"Get treated like a dumb animal long enough and that's what you become." Trumpkin says as he pokes the bear with his bow, takes out his knife, and starts to cut into the bear. Lucy, terrified by what he was doing, buries her face in Peter's chest and sobs quietly. "You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember."
"Way to scar a young girl for life, Trumpkin." I say as I lead Lucy away from the grisly sight of Trumpkin skinning a bear. We all decide to make camp close by because the sun is beginning to set. After a few hours, I decide to go for a little walk to try and get my thoughts in order. On my way back I stop and look up at the stars, where no doubt my dad is watching us. "Dad, why did you send me? Why not Emma, Scarlet, or even Abby? I just can't be a guardian and you know that. I'm going to screw this up and there are going to be a lot of Narnians dead because of the mistakes I'm going to make."
"Hey, you ok?" Edmund's voice brought me out of my trance. I turn around to see him leaning against a tree with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just trying to get some of my thoughts together." I explain to him. "There's a lot of things going on."
"Yeah, I know the feeling. It's strange being back. It's been so long since I've felt this good." Edmund says as he looks up at the stars.
"It must be. After being gone for 1300 years…" I begin but his facial expression cuts me off.
"1300 years! We've only been gone for 1 year." Edmund says with a look of shock on his face. He sits down against the tree.
"Time moves differently here. One year in your world is 1300 here and as you can tell, it's been a hard 1300 years. At least without you here… and your siblings" I try to calm him down as I sit next to him.
"You've been here this whole time?" He asks me, looking into my eyes.
"Yes. I've always been around, just in unusual ways." I say as I blush and look at the grass. "Well I'm going to get some sleep."
"Yeah. Me too." He says getting up and offering me his hand. I take it and he helps me up.
"Good night, Edmund." I let go of his hand and walk over to a tree and in the process, turn into my cat self. Using my cat like reflexes, I jump onto a branch and keep climbing until I'm in the higher part of the tree.
"Good night, Ivy." I can hear Edmund whisper as he heads back to the fire and finally falls asleep. Thank Aslan for my heightened hearing. My eyelids start to drop and I slowly fall asleep thinking about the black-haired, brown-eyed king who has wormed his way into my mind.