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They walked in silence for what seemed like hours. The more they walked the more sure Lucy became that they were in fact in Narnia. The way the birds sang, the color of the sky, the feeling of the wind, and the smell of fresh blooming flowers was only something that was like this in Narnia. Everything seemed so perfect. Even Peter couldn't deny that this was Narnia. Not that he wanted it to not be Narnia. It was getting close to dark when Peter suggested that they stopped for the night. Susan vehemently argued against stopping, but Peter didn't want any of them getting hurt walking in the dark. Plus they were all getting hungry, so Susan agreed to stop.
Just as they stopped walking they heard a rustling of the bushes. Lucy jumped behind Peter, who was wishing that he had a sword or something to defend himself with. Out from the bushes came a sorry-looking group of people. There were about eight of them and they appeared to be extremely tired and worn out. Their clothes were torn and dirty, and they looked starving. A man with dark hair with a scraggily beard, who seemed to be the leader of the group called out hoarsely, "Don't hurt us please. We mean no harm." A soft look crossed Peter's face at this miserable group of travelers. "Oh don't worry," he said relaxing his shoulders a bit and gesturing to the fact that they didn't have any weapons, "I don't think we could do any harm even if we tried." A look of relief came upon all of the traveler's faces. Susan saw that they looked tired, especially the two children that were in the group. She sighed. She shouldn't hold anything against these people. They weren't the ones who brought her here. "Look," she called out to them, "why don't you all come over here with us for the night. We were just about to set everything up." The travelers nodded their heads in thanks, and expressed their gratitude for the gesture of kindness.
It soon became evident to the Pevensies that these travelers had no idea how to survive, so subtly they taught them how to build a fire and hunt small game. Night had fallen and everyone was well fed. The younger children of the group had fallen asleep hours ago, and the rest of the travelers, except the leader and a young teenage boy with wide blue eyes, were laying down to rest. That left all four Pevensies and the two travelers sitting around the fire in silence.
Edmund was the first to break the silence, "So," he began casually, "Where are you all traveling to? You look like you've been traveling a long time." The older man looked up at the Pevensies and then up into the starry night sky. "We left about a week ago, under supplied and with no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Blindly chasing a dream." He paused sighed and looked at the Pevensies before continuing. "North," he said, "We're going North. Back to the land of our ancestors". Peter looked at them, a confused look upon his face, "Land of the ancestors?" The older man nodded. "A few years back after the riot, rumors began circulating among the Telmarines." At the mentions of Telmarines the Pevensie children looked at each other with wide grins upon their faces. The older man continued, "They said that it was possible to travel back to Telmar, the land of our ancestors. A few people left to go chase these rumors. One man came back and said that Telmar was a rich and fertile place. This conformation sparked the interest of many, myself included. Few people acted, but many Telmarines dreamed of a new life there," The young boy interrupted him, "They say," he started hopeful and passionately, "that all men own castles there, and are their own kings. They are all so rich that they dine off of gold plates, and never go hungry. In Telmar there is no poverty, and nobody gets sick. They say, " but then the old man cut him off. "Hush now Ladislas," he said sharply, "Those are just silly stories. Not everyone can be a king and live forever boy." The young boy got up, rolled his brilliant blue eyes and went to go lie down. The older man shook his head slightly and spoke again. "That boy always has such fanciful ideas running through that mind of his. Where was I? Ah yes, so about one week ago I closed up shop and left Narnia with my family and a few of my friends in hopes of reaching Telmar." Lucy looked at him with bright eyes, "So we are in Narnia?" she asked him hopefully. He shook his head, "No my dear girl, we are far north of Narnia. If I am correct we should be in Ettinsmoor right now." Peter's mouth dropped open. "Ettinsmoor?" he questioned suddenly looking at the woods around him cautiously, "As in the wild, giant infested land of Ettinsmoor?" The man nodded as his eyebrows drew in together slowly. "Speaking of which," he said suspiciously, "what are you four doing all the way up here in those strange clothes, with no weapons and no idea of where you even are? Who are you guys" Lucy looked at him and began to answer him proudly, "Well you see, we're the" she started but Susan cut her off immediately. "Were were lost just like you." Susan said bluntly. "Just like you we're travelers passing through the area. It doesn't matter who we are really because the fact that we were here saved your life." The man's eyebrows furrowed deeper and the relaxed as he bowed his head to them, "Ah yes and we are very grateful for that. Your business is your business, sorry for intruding." He then stood up, wished them a good night and went to the rest of his group to sleep.
"What was that about Susan?" Lucy complained.
"Look," Susan started, "We don't know how long we've been gone from Narnia. It could have been years since you were here last Lucy. The Telmarines have obviously been having problems in Narnia. I don't think that it's very wise going around telling perfect strangers that we're the Kings and Queens of Narnia."
"But-" Lucy started to argue with her when Peter cut her off. "I agree with her Luce. I think that we should keep our identities hidden until we know that we're not going to be harmed because of it.
"Yes," Edmund said nodding his head, "We should all pick aliases to go by. I'll be..." Susan rolled her eyes and Peter looked at his brother seriously, "Stop it Ed. This is serious. We're in a wild country and we don't know how far from Narnia we are, nor how long we've been away. For all we know we could have been gone 1300 years again. We shouldn't just go around running amuck with things until we know more." Edmund just rolled his eyes at his brother. "Now you're beginning to sound like Susan". Susan gave him a sharp look. "We should all get to bed now. I want to get out of this land by tomorrow night, if we're still in this world by then; I don't want to spend another night in giant land." Nodding in agreement the Pevensies all went to bed around the campfire, the other travelers sleeping nearby.
Early the next morning the Pevensies awoke to the sound of the travelers packing up what little things they had. The leader of the group came up to the Pevensies and thanked them once again for all of their help. "You have given us far more than a good night's rest, and because of this we will always be in your debt. If ever the case you are in Telmar, you will always be welcome in my household. My name is Ald, my son there," he said nodding to the young boy from last night, "is Ladislas. May you be safe on the rest of your journey." Ald reached his arm out to Peter who clasped it and nodded back to him, "You're welcome; and travel safely. I hope what you reach exceeds all of your expectations." Ald looked at the four children one last time giving them a curious look, then turned about heading northwest towards his eventual goal of Telmar. "Let us continue on our journey" he announced to the others.
When Ald and his company were out of sight Peter turned towards his siblings. "Come on, we should continue following the river east, now that we know where we are." Lucy looked up at him as they started to walk, "And where exactly are we Peter, since you seem to know." Edmund looked down at her with an eyebrow raised. "You mean you don't?" he said incredulously. Susan looked at her brothers, "Well since you two are so well acquainted with the land why don't you educate us all on our location." Peter looked all around them, "It's really quite simply really. Ald said that we were in Ettinsmoor."
Edmund looked at his sisters and continued Peter's explanation, "And there are only two rivers in Ettinsmoor. One up in the north."
Peter nodded to the river they were following, "And one river in the south bordering Narnia. And since we've only seen two giants so far,"
"One can logically assume that we are following the River Schribble in the south."
"If we follow this all the way east it will lead us to the Eastern Sea."
"And from there we are only a hop, jump, and a skip away from reaching the inhabited part of Narnia." Edmund finished up looking at the bewildered girls, "It was simple really."
Susan chuckled lightly and said to Lucy, "I honestly don't know how they do that."
Peter tapped on his head, 'I've got a map right here. All boys do." Edmund, also was tapping on his noggin. They sight of the two boys boasting their superior mapping skills made the Pevensie sisters break out into a fit of laughter.
By midday the Pevensies had made significant progress and reached the delta of the river. "Look!" Lucy exclaimed pointing excitedly, "There's the Eastern Sea! I can I can see it!" All four of them rushed out until the cleared the forest and were on the beach.
I just want to thank every single person who has reviewed, followed, and even Favorited this story. It makes me really happy that there are people out there that enjoy my work. So thank you. Especially to the reviewer Raina who needs to calm down because it will be updated when it will be updated ;) but seriously you're great. And I believe that I will try to update every tuesday with maybe a bonus chapter on thursday depending. But since tuesday I have a doctor's appointment during my break at school, I decided to update a little bit early. So I hope you guys enjoy, and leave a review if you want. :)
-Spacebarthingy
