(Set a month after lww)


2. We both saved each other


"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Peter whispered to his brother as they crept through the castle gardens, trying their hardest not to be seen.

"You're the one who said he wanted some piece and quiet." Edmund said with a quiet snort, shaking his head as he glanced around.

"Yeah well, I didn't exactly have sneaking out of the castle in mind." Peter replied, smirking slightly. "Orious is gonna kill us when he finds we left the castle without guards."

"He doesn't have to find out." Edmund answered, glancing behind him and smirking back at his brother.

"Do you really, honestly think he won't find out about this?" Peter said, raising his eyebrow as they crept towards the gate leading into the woods. "Anyway, even if he doesn't, Susan will. Not to mention Lucy."

"You know," Edmund said, quietly opening the gate. "If you keep talking as loud as you are, then we're definitely gonna get caught."

Peter rolled his eyes and gave Edmund's shoulder a playful punch as they entered the woods, closing the gate behind them.

The two walked on in silence for a short while before they both relaxed. "See," Edmund said. "I knew we wouldn't get caught."

Peter stared at him. "Don't forget we've still got to get back." He told him.

"Yeah well," Edmund replied with a shrug. "We don't have to worry about that for a few more hours do we?"

"I guess not." Peter said, sighing a little before chuckling slightly.

Edmund smirked back before opening his mouth. "So, were do you wanna go?" He asked.

Peter thought for a moment. "What about that small river about a mile from here?" He suggested.

Edmund nodded slowly.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" Peter said, smiling.

Edmund shook his head. "No." He said. "I've never been to this river."

Peter frowned. "Oh yeah." He mumbled eventually. "It was around three weeks ago, we'd only just moved into Cair. The day after our coronation me and Lucy went exploring... with guards."

"And why wasn't I invited?" Edmund chuckled, although he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

Peter sighed. "You were sleeping." He said with a small shrug. "And Susan decided to stay with you."

Edmund nodded slowly. "Well then." He said after almost a minute of silence. "You best show me this river."

"As you wish your majesty." Peter said playfully, before leading the way through the woods.

They'd been walking for around fifteen minutes when Peter stopped dead.

"What?" Edmund questioned, stopping a step behind him, frowning.

"I thought I heard something." Peter replied quietly.

Edmund's frown got deeper. "Heard what?" He asked.

Peter turned to face him. "Like, footsteps." He said with a small shrug, not looking one hundred percent sure.

Edmund stared at him. "Maybe you're just hearing things?" He suggested. "Because I know I didn't hear anything."

Peter sighed. "Maybe I am." He said. "But I've got a bad feeling."

Edmund rolled his eyes in an amused way, smiling a little. "You always have a bad feeling." He told his brother as he continued walking.

Peter stood there for a moment before hurrying after Edmund. "I do not always have a bad feeling." He said firmly.

Edmund chuckled. "Yeah, you do." He said, shaking his head slightly.

Peter stared at him, eyebrow raised an arms crossed as he stopped walking.

Edmund chuckled and turned to face him. "Alright." He said. "You don't always have a bad feeling, just... most of the time?"

Peter glared playfully at him for a moment before he heard a bush russle, causing his head to snap up in alarm.

"Okay I heard that." Edmund whispered, staring at the bush the noise had come from.

Peter took a deep breath and unsheathed his sword, pointing it in front of him. "Ed, sword." He muttered when Edmund just stood there.

Edmund looked up at him and nodded before reaching for his sword, but he stopped dead when something bounded from the bush.

A wolf.

Edmund froze. A wolf. One of the witches. The witch.

Peter's eyes went wide in alarm when the wolf bounded towards his brother, and looking to his left, found his brother frozen to the spot, eyes wide and trembling. "Ed look out!" He screamed, before lunging at him.

Edmund gasped when he was shoved hard, causing him to stagger quite a few steps before landing on the floor with a thud.

He lay there, but only for a split second before he heard a loud cry.

Peter.

Sitting up as quickly as he could, Edmund's eyes went wide at what he saw.

Peter was laying on the floor, pinned down by the wolf, his sword laying on the ground above his head, but too far away to reach.

Edmund was worried to see a huge gash going down his leg, and a cut on his eyebrow, both bleeding at a rather alarming pace.

"Peter you idiot, why did you jump in the way? You saved me but at this rate it's gonna cost you your life."

Edmund shook his head against the thought. He wouldn't let that happen, not in a million years.

Unsheathing his sword he leapt to his feet and ran at the wolf, catching the creatures attention.

"Get away from my brother." Edmund spat, stopping no more than three feet from Peter and the wolf.

The wolf stared at him, increasing pressure on Peter's chest to keep him there, before letting out something that Edmund took to be a laugh. "Well well well." He growled. "If it isn't the little traitor."

Edmund visibly flinched at this, taking a deep breath and trying to still his trembling.

"Hey!" Peter snapped, catching the attention of them both. "Don't you dare call him that."

Edmund swallowed hard when the wolf just laughed again. "I said," He muttered when the wolf didn't move. "Leave my brother alone."

"It would be my pleasure." The wolf replied, getting frowns from both boys. "After all, it was really you I was aiming for. But your brother here decided to jump in the way.

"No!" Peter snapped. "Don't you dare!"

Edmund swallowed hard at the weakness in Peter's voice, and knew instantly that he was losing too much blood.

"Well then." Edmund choked, glaring firmly at the wolf despite his trembling. "I'm right here. Just leave my brother alone."

The wolf chuckled, before leaping at Edmund... before either of them even knew what had happened.

Edmund's eyes went wide when he was slammed against a nearby tree, knocking all the air from his lungs in the process, causing him to drop his sword and hit the ground with a groan.

"Edmund!" He heard Peter scream.

Cracking his eyes open he saw the wolf in front of him, getting ready to pounce again, and looking past the wolf he saw his older brother, trying his hardest to stand, but he wasn't having much luck, not with the wound on his leg.

Edmund, after a second took a deep breath and forced himself to his feet, grabbing his sword and obviously startling the wolf, who stared at him, looking rather confused.

Edmund groaned and wrapped an arm around his stomach, knowing already that he had a few cracked ribs from being thrown into the tree, but that wasn't going to stop him.

He had to get rid of the wolf. Peter couldn't do it, he couldn't even stand, so that meant it fell to him.

"Well," The wolf said, seeming to pull himself together. "You're strong aren't you."

Edmund glared at the creature. "I will not let you kill my brother." He choked, hiding a wince as best as he could.

"I'm not even trying to kill your brother." The wolf laughed. "It's you I'm after, but-"

Edmund took as deep a breath as he could at that, there was a but?

"I could kill both of you." The wolf said. "Kill your brother first and make you watch, before killing you."

Edmund's heart skipped a beat. "Over my dead body." He practically growled, before running at the wolf despite the pain it caused.

This obviously shocked the wolf, for it didn't move, not until Edmund's sword was stuck in it's chest, when he used every last bit of his strength to slice its claws across Edmund's chest before he died.

"Ed!" Peter cried desperately when he saw his brothers eyes go wide.

But Edmund managed to stay standing, slowly pulling his sword from the wolf before staggering over to his brother.

"Peter." He choked as he collapsed to the floor beside him. "Are - Are you alright?"

Peter stared at him. "Are you alright?!" He exclaimed.

Edmund swallowed hard. "Just a scratch." He choked, before coughing a few times, which caused more pain than he would've liked.

"Just a scratch?!" Peter said. "Ed it's ripped straight through your tunic! And it's deep, like really deep!"

Edmund glanced down at his chest, and was alarmed to see that Peter was actually right. "I'll - I'll be fine." He choked. "You on the other hand-" He trailed off and glanced down at Peter's leg, cringing at the cut and how much blood had soaked into his trousers. "You need help."

Peter took a deep breath. "I think we both need help." He muttered, shaking his head slightly.

Edmund chuckled, but was unable to hide a wince.

"Tell me your ribs aren't cracked." Peter whispered.

Edmund hesitated before sighing. "I think they might be." He mumbled.

Peter swallowed hard. "I was afraid of that." He sighed.

There was silence for a moment before Edmund spoke again. "Why - Why did you push me out the way like that?" He asked, tears filling his eyes.

Peter stared at him for a while before answering. "I - I couldn't let that wolf hurt you." He sighed. "But seeming as you then jumped in to save me, that didn't exactly work did it?"

Edmund chuckled lightly. "Well, I wasnt about to let it kill you was I?" He said gently.

"We both saved each other I guess." Peter said.

Edmund nodded, smiling. "I guess." He copied.

"Well." Peter sighed after a while. "We should probably try and head back to Cair."

"Try." Edmund said, raising an eyebrow. "You can't even stand, and I don't think I'd be able to either."

"Well this is great." Peter muttered. "We're stuck in the woods, injured with no way of getting back."

"We'll both bleed out if we're not careful." Edmund choked, glancing fearfully at Peter's leg before looking down at his chest.

"Your cloak." Peter said suddenly. "Use it to wrap around your chest."

"No!" Edmund said, even as he carefully slipped his cloak off his shoulders. "I'm wrapping it around your leg!"

"No you are not!" Peter argued. "You need it more than I do!"

"Are you actually joking!?" Edmund snapped. "You're bleeding at an alarming speed Peter!"

"But so are you!" Peter snapped back.

Edmund glared at him before grabbing Peter's leg, gently of course, and wrapping his cloak tightly around it.

"Ed!" Peter exclaimed, groaning in pain.

"Sorry." Edmund muttered. "But it'll slow the bleeding."

"What about you?" Peter replied.

"I'll be fine." Edmund mumbled even as he winced, he knew he was losing alot of blood from the scratches on his chest, probably even more than Peter, but he just wanted his brother to be okay. "Trust me." He added.

Peter stared at him for a moment before sighing and nodding his head, knowing Edmund wouldn't change his mind, no matter what he said. "Alright." He breathed after a while. "I trust you."

Edmund gave him a grateful smile before letting out a few rather harsh coughs, causing him to double over and wrap his arms around his stomach, groaning quietly.

Peter swallowed hard and reached up to place a hand gently on his brothers shoulder, giving him a reassuring nod when he looked up. "We'll figure this out okay?" He said. "We'll both be fine."

"Of course you'll both be fine."

Both their heads snapped up when they heard the voice, and they both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Susan, stood beside them with a raised eyebrow, and Lucy stood beside her reaching down for her cordial.

"What happened?" Susan asked, kneeling beside Peter and examining his leg.

Peter flinched a little before answering. "We went for a walk and got attacked by a wolf." He mumbled, sighing a little.

"Went for a walk without guards?" Susan said, not looking impressed.

"Alright." Peter muttered. "Save the scolding for later, just get us home before we bleed out."

"We?" Susan questioned, glancing at Edmund.

"The wolf scratched me is all." Edmund told her, shrugging his shoulders which only caused him to wince.

"Oh and threw him against a tree." Peter added. "Cracking his ribs."

"Do you reckon the cordial can fix broken bones?" Lucy questioned, frowning down at it.

Susan sighed. "I don't know." She mumbled. "It says it can heal any injury, I dunno if it means broken bones."

"Well there's only one way to find out." Lucy said simply.

"Heal Peter first." Edmund said quickly, nodding at his older brother.

"Ed no-" Peter went to say, but was cut off by his brother.

"Pete you need the cordial." He said. "You've gone white as a sheet."

Peter sighed. "So have you." He mumbled.

Edmund rolled his eyes before glancing at Lucy. "Just give him the cordial." He sighed weakly.

Lucy sighed but nodded and shuffled over to Peter. "Open your mouth then." She said.

Peter glared at Edmund but opened his mouth anyway, allowing Lucy to give him one drop of her cordial.

The wound on his leg at once healed over, and whilst he still felt a little weak from blood loss, he was just glad the pain was gone. "Right." He said, sitting up straight. "Now heal Ed."

Lucy nodded and turned to her other brother, but before she could give him the cordial, Edmund's eyes slipped shut and he fell forwards, collapsing against Susan.

Edmund groaned slightly as his eyes flickered open, at once becoming aware of the blinding light.

He flung his arm across his eyes, trying to block out as much light as possible... Aslan, his head hurt.

He frowned to himself when he heard the curtains being drawn, slowly allowing himself to remove his arm and open his eyes.

Peter was now sat on the bed beside him, staring at him with eyes full of hope and, Edmund hated to admit, tears.

"What an earth happened?" Edmund choked, struggling to sit up.

"You passed out." Peter told him when he'd managed to lean somewhat against the headboard. "You passed out because you insisted I take the cordial first, when in fact you were the one losing all the blood."

Edmund glanced down at his chest, not surprised to see nothing there. "You were losing blood too." He said slowly.

"Well apparently I wasn't losing nearly as much as you were." Peter sighed. "The wound you got was pretty serious."

There was silence for a moment before Peter spoke again. "You knew that though, didn't you?" He whispered.

Edmund nodded a little. "Yeah." He choked.

Peter swallowed hard, shaking his head slightly. "You bloody idiot." He murmered, but there was no real anger behind it.

Edmund stared at him, forcing a small smile before shifting slightly, wincing. "Take it the cordial didn't heal my ribs." He muttered.

"We're not really sure to be honest." Peter said with a shrug. "The healer had a look earlier and said that it had maybe healed them half way, but obviously we couldn't really tell when you were unconscious, so, what do you think?"

Edmund hesitated slightly. "They still hurt a little." He said slowly. "But not nearly as much as they did earlier."

"That's good." Peter said quietly, nodding a little.

"Yeah I guess." Edmund said quietly.

Peter sighed sadly and shuffled over to sit beside him, carefully wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close.

Edmund smiled a little and buried his face against Peter's chest, taking a deep breath before speaking. "You know," He said slowly. "Something tells me we're gonna be out alone again by the end of the week."

Peter chuckled slightly. "Probably." He said. "Knowing us."

"We'll never learn will we?" Edmund said with a smirk.

Peter smirked back. "No." He breathed. "I don't think we ever will."

There was silence for a moment or two before he spoke again. "Ed?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Edmund replied, all of a sudden feeling extremely tired.

Peter grinned. "Fancy a walk?"

Edmund thumped him on the shoulder. "Idiot." He grumbled, but he had to laugh.


The End