Tail twirling in and out of branches, Nelson scurried his way through the forest.
He bounded up tree trunks, scattered across limbs of greenery, and jumped high above the tree tops. It made many birds' and other squirrels to raise their voices in irritation and fear. They hollered and shouted questions at his retreating figure. They wanted to know what was wrong.
Because he was running! And not being chased.
Nelson was surprised when he found no monsters in his wake. It made him feel uneasy, but he accepted the kind Minotaur's risk for his life.
But now wasn't the time for questions. He saw the sun breaking over the horizon, and just beyond that, the bustling streets of Hogwood.
No… He thought. Mama said…
Mama's not here.
It was an ongoing mind war. Should he risk entering a dangerous place? Or should he turn around and land in the arms of the Monsters once more?
But maybe…maybe he had another choice.
Couldn't he help save the other little boys and girls? The other people of Hogwood? Maybe he could even find Mama and Moonstick and Twittertwig! But…how?
Last time he saw his family was with King Edmund and Queen Lucy. They'd taken them away from the Monsters and the village. They'd made sure the Monsters didn't get him.
Would their brother and sister do the same?
As Nelson slowed down a little, he saw the hustle and bustle of sad figures crossing little dirt roads. He saw pain, fear, and suffering. He turned towards the way he came, and saw the smoke of the Hags' camp's fire.
He made his decision.
Nelson turned towards the east, towards the capital, Cair Paravel.
PAGE. BREAK. NOW.
"T-thank you," Josiah whispered. "I-I wouldn't have known he was after me."
A rough hand caught her elbow gently. "It's fine, Josiah. As long as you are okay."
She smiled up at Ed.
They walked down the streets in silence for a moment, Lucy and Edmund flanking their new friend's sides. It wasn't long though, before the silence was broken by an always-chipper voice.
"Do you think we should go…there, Ed?"
Edmund looked over at her, then across the street.
There stood a shabby little shack, squeezed between too larger looking buildings. Its sign read; Post.
Lucy saw his look and nodded. "Let us go home first. We can write to our…er, parents, there."
With a questioning gaze, Josiah followed the two turning figures down the street.
PAGE. BREAK. HERE.
Edmund sat, eyes fixated on the blank page in front of him. It had finally hit him – what would he tell his older siblings? It was a lot of information to intake. Maybe if he broke it down in pieces?
Slowly, he scrawled neatly the easiest part of the letter.
Dear Peter and Susan,
He jabbed the quill frustratingly against the desk. How would Susan react? She'd get mad for not telling them sooner. She'd be worried for their safety, and for the lives that had been lost. Susan wouldn't jump into the situation like he would. She'd devise a plan first.
Maybe…
His hand reached to scratch off Peter's name.
No!
The High King may be rash at times, but he had enough sensibility to know when to go ahead and do the impossible. Edmund knew that the wrath of his brother wasn't something he wanted to face – especially in battle – if he realised he'd never written to him as well. He had many things too tell him, many more than he felt could be expressed on paper.
So he wrote.
He wrote to both of them, opening up with the beginnings of their adventure and the people they had met. He then went into a more serious tone, explaining their dilemma and his ideas to resolve it. Edmund closed with his wishes and prayers to his siblings and friends, and then sealed it tightly.
"There," he murmured, tucking the envelope into his shoulder bag.
He exited the room and entered the main room where Lucy and Josiah were speaking softly on the sofa.
"We're all ready?" he asked.
Both woman looked at him and nodded.
PAGE. BREAK. HERE.
Josiah didn't know what to think of her new friends. What made them so mature? So immune to threats and death? What made them confident at their ages, young and innocent?
What made them tick?
She saw them stand against assassins and defend people they barely knew. She watched as they tried to smile and wave passers-by, who only looked at them merely. But Josiah could see through the dull eyes of the village folk. She saw a spark of hope in every scowl.
As they approached the Post Office once more, a stout little Hedgehog waddled out the door.
"Greetings! Greetings!" he called towards Josiah and her human friends.
On both sides of Josiah, the Pevensies smiled.
"Hello there!" Lucy called.
"What may we do for you today, miss?" the Hedgehog asked, eying her curiously.
"We would like to send a message." Edmund cut in.
The Hedgehog turned on him. "To whom, lad?"
The two children peered at one another from the corners of their eyes. Lucy reached in her pocket, counting her money.
"It's rather complicated. May we speak to you inside?"
"Of course, come in!"
Inside the shack, the Hedgehog was able to climb itself up onto a wooden stool. The remaining persons in the room stood around him awkwardly, trying to all fit in the small enclosure.
"Now fella, where should I send my Robins for the run, eh?"
"Cair Paravel, if you may."
The Hedgehog whistled. "You really haven't been here long, have you? Them Minotaurs and Monsters creeping the village won't let anything get past them that seems special. I can't guarantee that'll get very far, at least without you, myself or my robins, or your little friends here dying in the process."
Josiah again was thinking. Cair Paravel? What did…what did two Archendland children need there?
Children…
…One is as bright and merry as a summer's day, the other as dark and serious as winter's breadth. Both ignite a formidable light formed with their kin, uniting Narnia into a vast land of warm peace…
A piece from an article she had read one day, two years ago, popped into Josiah's mind. She glanced at the children, her head slowly shaking.
At the same time, the Hedgehog seemed to have had the same thoughts. He jumped off the stool and approached them, calculating. The children just stood in their spots, expecting what was coming next.
And it came, the Hedgehog tilting his glasses from his nose and peered up at them, his eyes wide.
"N-no, this cannot, cannot do! Flee! Flee! Majesties, flee!"
Oh my…I didn't really like the pacing in this chapter. I'm really sorry, I guess I'm just stuck as to where to send the plot next. :/
Anyways, I've had a really bad writing weekend. I found out that my writing instructor (she wasn't even that, it's a little complicated…) from like two years ago had said I sucked at English (I'm a French immersion student, thank you very much). She told my MOTHER this AFTER I paid for her services. So I had to spend three days moping over that, which made me lose a lot of want and effort into writing my Drama assignment and even this story. I'm getting over it though, hopefully.
Nevertheless, the fictionpress I was talking about, it's a site just like this (run by the same people, I'm pretty sure), but you add your own stories and not fanfics I'm not very proud of it yet (again, bad weekend), but I'm going to review it! But here, if you really want. It's more or less just an experiment. .com/s/2900832/1/Amaranthine
I'm going to fix up that first chapter (not the prologue, I might change it from present to past tense though), soon. I'll probably go through and pick apart this story and fix it up (because it needs work too).
(If you were reading my story that I deleted, The Time Traveller's Chronicles, it relates to those characters. That again, was an attempted fail of incorporating original characters with already-known ones to extend on all of their character perks and personalities and to "get to know them all" because I was writing about them all, but in different pieces.)
P.S. You all were hinting at pretty much everything that comes up in this chapter, so thanks for your inspirations =)