Disclaimer: I do not own Chronicles of Narnia. I'm the wrong gender and several decades too young to be C. S. Lewis, at least.

Summary: See previous Chapter.

Chapter Five

Even without his complete faith in Lucy, Caspian was seriously wishing that they had gone her way, Aslan or no Aslan.

First, they had gone all of ten yards before hitting an impossibly thick young fir wood. After spending several minutes trying to push through, ultimately coming to the conclusion that it would take them an hour to walk half a mile, they had to fight their way out again and go around the wood. This path took them well out of their course, and far from sight or sound of the river and cliffs.

Even worse, it was getting to the hottest part of the day, and when they finally made it back to the cliffs, after being attacked by a bear that they had been forced to kill, the path was a lot more broken than it had been and walking alongside a river is not a pleasant experience for people in a hurry.

It would have been lovely for an afternoon ramble and a picnic tea, (which Caspian resolved to do once everything had settled down) and it stopped them from getting completely lost in the woods, but what they most wanted to see at that point was the Great River and Beruna.

The Rush began to go deeper and deeper, until the path was more of a steep and slippery climb, with a very high chance of falling down a dark chasm into the thundering river below. They watched the cliffs for any sign of an alternate path, but the cliffs remained smooth and unyielding. Again, it was getting dark, and the boys, along with Trumpkin and Trufflehunter, wanted nothing more than to light a fire and have something to eat. Susan wanted to continue until they were out of the woods, and Lucy was too tired and miserable to have an opinion at all. They were forced to continue, however, by the simple fact that there was no dry wood to be had, nor a suitable place to stop.

Finally, they came to a break in the cliffs where the river gorge made a bend, and they could see all of Beruna and the surrounding area spread out before them. The good news was that they were out of the woods and at Beruna. The bad news was that at least two regiments were camped at the fords, and that there was clearly no way through or around them. Their only choice, therefore, was to go back the way they had come.

This did not go down well with anyone, but when they had to dive into hiding to escape notice from a Telmarine party of soldiers, who were escorting Miraz himself, they were forced to admit that there was no other option. Getting back onto her feet when they came out of hiding, Lucy stretched her legs. "I suppose we'll have to go back up the gorge now."

Caspian found himself stifling the urge to laugh at her words as King Peter gave his youngest sister a fond look. "Lu, you're a hero, and that's the closest you've come all day to saying I told you so. Let's get on."

Trumpkin agreed. "And as soon as we're into the woods, whatever anyone says, I'm going to light a fire and cook supper. But we must be well away from here."

It was just as difficult going back to their starting point as it was getting to Beruna in the first place, but the word 'supper' had given everyone a second wind, and they were almost cheerful despite the difficult path. When they made it into the woods again, it was just starting to get dark, but they soon had a good fire going and began to cook dinner.

They still had a few apples left, along with some meat salvaged from the bear that they had been forced to kill earlier. Wrapping the apples up like a sort of dumpling, with meat instead of pastry, resulted in a surprisingly delicious meal, and of course there was no washing up. There was little to do but stretch out and try to make themselves comfortable, but they all fell asleep very quickly.

Caspian was woken again in the night by the soft rustling sound of footsteps moving through dry leaves. Keeping in mind that they were not that far away from the Telmarine camp, Caspian carefully rose to his feet. The source of the noise was only Lucy, walking away from the camp and into the trees.

Feeling surprisingly rested, Caspian followed her, hearing the faint sound of Lucy talking to herself as she looked very hard at the trees. "Why, I do believe they're moving. They're walking about, and dancing. I suppose, when the trees themselves dance, it must be a very country dance. The dryads are quite different. They are almost awake, but not quite."

Just in front of Lucy, Caspian could now see a clearing, but before he could take a proper look, Lucy gave a cry of pure joy and rushed forward, straight at a huge lion. Caspian was about to rush forward as well, running to Lucy's defence, but stopped when Lucy threw her arms around the lion and buried her face in his mane. "Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan. At last."

Ah. Well, that explained things. The lion rolled onto his side, so that Lucy was half sitting and half lying between his front paws, and touched her nose with his tongue. "Welcome, dear one."

Lucy rested against Aslan as the lion raised his head, looking directly at Caspian. Sending a brief prayer to whoever might be listening that this gentle treatment was not exclusive to Lucy, Caspian slowly walked forward. It seemed that he had little to fear, however, as the lions only words were; "And welcome to you, Son of Adam."

Well, it didn't look like Caspian was going to be eaten just yet, but he had barely started to relax, sitting down a few feet away from Aslan, when he jumped to his feet again, the inbred Telmarine fear of the woods springing up inside him as faces looked out from the trees, then withdrew for a few moments, before what had to be dryads began to appear from everywhere, and Caspian shied back toward Aslan as they crowded around him and Lucy.

Lucy was quickly pulled into a lively dance with two birch dryads, leaving Caspian to stand with Aslan, trying to calm his fear. The silence was almost uncomfortable as they watched the dancers; after all, what do you say to a huge talking lion who you hardly believed existed until a few hours ago? Finally, Caspian could bear it no longer. "Aslan, why was Lucy the only one who could see you? Why couldn't High King Peter?"

Aslan watched as a rowan joined Lucy and the birch-girls, but the birch-girls ignored him. A water hemlock darted out of their exuberant way and joined his poison hemlock cousins, all intent on staying on the sideline. Another rowan headed in their direction, but altered his course when the water hemlock glared. It reminded Caspian of when he had watched young men trying to flirt with maidens, and then be intimidated away by protective male relatives.
Looking over at the cluster of hemlocks, where the poison hemlock girls were proving that they didn't need their cousins to divert unwanted attention (Caspian nearly cringed at their methods), Aslan smiled as a young aspen backed away from them quickly, then turned his attention to Caspian. "Of all her siblings, it is Lucy who loves me, who loves Narnia, the best. She has never lost hope or faith, despite all that has happened here. That is why she can see me. You have been raised with the belief that I; that Old Narnia, was nothing more than a Myth, yet you have believed. That is why you are able to see me."

Did the closest thing Old Narnians had to religion play favorites? If not, He certainly seemed to play soft spots. Caspian settled back to watch, but only stood for a few seconds before Lucy pulled him into the dance as well. It was nothing like the balls Caspian had been forced to attend at the Telmarine court, with the light coming from the full moon, instead of torches.

The dance had no set steps, but brought Caspian a strange sense of freedom that made his instinctive fear of the trees vanish as though it never was. His partner was not a refined Telmarine Lady, but a Narnian Queen who had led him to Aslan and whose eyes shone with joy and laughter. Caspian didn't know if they had danced for hours or only seconds before Aslan called them back to his side, and Caspian somehow knew that the next part of the night was going to be a lot harder.

He was right. Aslan looked at them both, as though he was looking into Caspian's soul. "You must not stay here long. You have work in hand, and much time has been lost today."

Lucy sighed. "Yes, I know. I saw you, but they wouldn't believe me."

From deep inside Aslan, there came the barest hint of a growl, "And why should that have stopped you from coming to me?"

Lucy looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. I was too scared to come alone. It wasn't my fault, though, was it?" Aslan only looked at her. "Oh, Aslan, you don't mean it was? I couldn't have left the others and come alone, how could I? Don't look at me like that… I suppose I could, and I wouldn't have really been alone, not if I was with you. But what would have been the good?"

Aslan said nothing. Caspian took Lucy's hand as she looked rather faint. "You mean that it would have turned out all right, somehow? Am I not to know?"

Aslan shook his great head. "To know what would have happened? No, dear one, no one is ever told that. But what will happen is another matter entirely. You must return to the others and wake them up. Tell them that you have seen me and that they must all get up at once and follow me. What will happen – that is the way to find out."

Lucy tilted her head. "Will the others be able to see you too?"

Aslan shook his head again. "Certainly not at first. Later on, it will all depend."

Caspian frowned. "But if they can't see you, will they believe us?"

He felt himself pinned by Aslan's stare. "It doesn't matter."

"Oh dear," said Lucy, "I was so pleased at finding you again. I thought that you'd let me stay. I thought you'd come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away – like last time. And now everything is going to be horrid."

"Things never happen the same way twice, dear one," said Aslan. "It has been hard on all in Narnia before now."

Lucy buried her face in Aslan's mane, seeming to draw strength from it, and then sat up. "I'm sorry, Aslan. I'm ready now."

If a lion's facial muscles were capable of the action, Caspian would swear that Aslan was smiling at Lucy. "Now you are a lioness, and all of Narnia will be renewed. But come; we have no time to lose."

Aslan rose and padded on noiseless feet out of the clearing, and they followed him, Lucy laying a hand on his mane, and Caspian tentatively doing the same several moments later. The trees parted before them, seeming to bow as they passed. Reaching the camp, Aslan stopped. "Now, children, I will wait for you here. You must go and wake the others and tell them to follow. If they will not, then you two at least must follow me alone."

Caspian bowed to Aslan and followed Lucy over to where the others still lay asleep. This was going to be a longer night than he had first anticipated.

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A/N: Ok, this story is on two favourite's lists, and fourteen alerts, but there is only one review for the last chapter. I really hate begging for reviews, but constructive criticism is very useful, and I like to know what people think. Lack of comments sometimes makes me wonder if a story is really worth continuing if I am the only one who reads it.

Take five seconds to review and let me know if I should keep going.

On another note, I don't know when I'll be updating next. My best friend was the victim of domestic violence, so I'm leaving in about two hours to help her take out an AVO. For obvious reasons, I doubt that I'll have much time to write in the near future.

Thanks, Nat.