I would like to thank all my reviewers, even me ( ), who gave me good advice to make it more original, which is really hard for me because it's difficult for me to capture the Narnia characters' personalities. This chapter has a bit more originality, mostly sword fighting, but not much. Chapter six is mostly original except for about three hundred words. Not sure if they are in character, but I tried my hardest. Again, I tried!

Here's Chapter Five!

PICTURE OF DRESS ON PROFILE!

I don't own Narnia, just Joanna, Ludwik, and Joanna's parents. I don't own Fighter by Christina Aguilera!

Chapter Five: The Swords, the Training and the Traitor

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'Cause if it wasn't for all
That you tried to do
I wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull through
So I wanna say thank you

'Cause it
Makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
Makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter

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Susan and Lucy threw me into my dress, literally. I had to admit it was comfortable with its light blue trumpet sleeves and indigo dress. It had a box neckline that was outlined in white silky fabric. The waist was the same way. I rolled my eyes as Susan tightened the strings on the back, again. Once she was satisfied we strolled to the stream to wash our hair. It felt so good to be clean again. From my point at the stream I could see Susan and Lucy having a heart to heart. My feet were bare as I walked through the stream, lifting the hem of my dress as to not get it wet.

"Yes, before you got boring." Lucy and I laughed in sync as I came within hearing distance.

"You're not going to take that are you Susan?" My long blonde hair was in a loose ponytail that was soon to come undone from all the shaking I was doing.

"Oh really?" Susan's voice was sly. She reached down and sent a small wave at Lucy. Lucy splashed her back with an evil laugh.

"Jo! Help me! Susan has an advantage." I smiled sweetly at each of them, before pushing a wave in each of their directions. I received then as well. I shrieked as the water hit my arms. Susan was first one out as she pulled the towel to reveal Maugrim. He growled viciously as I pulled Lucy closer to me.

"Please don't try to run. We're tired." That's when another wolf came out from behind a tree.

"And we prefer to kill you quickly." Susan took one glance at the horn and I knew what she was going to do. She thrust the towel into Maugrim's face and we took off for the horn. Susan reached it and blew into it over and over as I helped Lucy up a tree. Then quickly climbed up myself.

"Susan come on! Get up here!" I thrust my hand out and she grabbed my wrist and I did the same. Together we got her up into the tree. Maugrim and the other wolf were barking up the tree trying to grab onto Susan's ankle.

"Get back!" Ah, Peter to the rescue. I didn't pay attention to the conversation as I was trying to calculate how throw myself at one of the wolves to make it an even fight. Thankfully I didn't have to as Aslan came roaring out, pinning one wolf to the ground. The rest of the army followed, including Ludwik. And man did he look angry, beyond angry. His hackles were raised and his teeth were bared, snarling. Oreius galloped up, pulling out a huge sword.

"No! Stay your weapons. This is Peter's battle."

"You may think you're a king, but you're going to die… like a dog!" With that Maugrim jumped on Peter.

"Peter!" The three of us yelled as we jumped from the tree. When we got the wolf off, Peter immediately sat up his face was flushed. I smiled as he pulled the two into a hug. I was about to walked away when his voice stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going?" I shrugged, not having an answer. "I would like a hug from my surrogate sister after saving her life." I smiled and threw myself at him. I pulled away and slapped the back of his head.

"If you ever do that again I'll kill you myself!" I hugged him again, thanking Aslan that he was alive.

"Peter. Clean your sword." He did as he was told and then kneeled in front of Aslan. I looked down and saw Ludwik right by my side. I was going to have another overprotective person, or creature to watch after me. Aslan placed a paw on Peter's left shoulder before he said, "Rise, Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane, Knight of Narnia." He glanced at us as he smiled. Lucy gasped as a smile rose to her face. I stood by Aslan's side without looking at him.

"Is there anyone who is free to teach me a bit of swordplay tonight?"He beckoned a female centaur that seemed to radiate happiness.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Adrina, could you please show Joanna the basics of sword play?" She nodded and I went to follow her. Her black hair curled at the bottom, right above her tan hide. She was muscled, but not overly so. She led me to a field, big enough to fit my house in. She started with the basic stuff first. Your stance, grip and weapon control. It may seem easy in the movies, but let me assure you, it isn't. In the first two hours I successfully blocked only ten of her attacks.

"Lady Joanna, you need to let instinct take over and let that control your moves, not your mind." I nodded and wiped the sweat from my brow. We got back into the starting position and she thrust her blade towards my abdomen. Relying on just instincts, I took a step back and blocked her blade. Using all my strength I pushed her sword backward and soon met another attack. The sparing went on for awhile; with each block, and thrust I was losing strength and not even three minutes after the mock battle started it was over with me on my back, Adrina's sword at my neck. "Better." She pulled me up and it began again. Each time I was lasting a little longer than the one before. By the time it was dinner I could barely hold my sword up. I forcefully dragged myself to the table and greedily drank the water. Dinner was quiet as we were all worrying about Edmund. I ate whatever I put on my plate and afterward I went to go find Adrina.

"Tomorrow Lady Joanna, bright and early after breakfast we will train. We will see how you do with both swords." I nodded and went to wash up a bit before bed. The only thing on my mind during my slumber was the moves I had learned earlier that day.

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I awoke early the next morning to stretch my stiff muscles. I could see the dim morning light from the crack between the flaps. I walked out and saw that Ludwik had slept outside. I rolled my eyes, what is up with the overprotective friends? "Ludwik? Did you sleep there all last night?"

"Yes, My Lady. I did not wish for any harm to come to you." I shook my head, but smiled. I sat in the grass and Ludwik came over and rested his head in my lap. "The other King shall be arriving shortly, if you wished to know." I couldn't keep the delighted beam off my face. "My Lady it seems that you are very excited to see the King. Should I worry?" I patted his head in a patronizing way, but didn't reply. I must have dozed off because the next thing I heard was Lucy yell.

"Edmund!" I shot up from the ground and snapped my eyes open. I heard Ludwik bark out a laugh and I sent him a nasty glare. I stood by Susan as we watched Aslan finish up his talk with Edmund. Edmund slowly made his way to us, his hand in his pockets with his head down. Aslan trailed closely behind.

"What's done is done. There is no need to speak to Edmund about what is past." With those intelligent words, Aslan walked off leaving the five of us behind. We stood in silence for a minute as we looked at each other.

"Hello." I bit my lip to keep the 'Aww' in as Lucy hugged Edmund around the waist. After only a second he returned it with a smile. It was a small family reunion, but a happy one.

Once Susan let go of him she asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm a little tired." He once again tucked his hands in his pockets.

"Get some sleep." Peter made a head gesture towards his tent. Edmund walked away with a dejected look on his face. "And Edmund, try not to wander off." Hopefully this ended their explosive arguments from now on. I stood there, not looking at anything, but the ground when Lucy shoved me.

"Are you not going to say hello." I bit my lip and looked up; he was almost to the tent. Without a second thought I rushed after him.

"Ed! " I shouted making him spin on his heel, just in time to catch me as I lunged at him. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waist. My cheeks seemed to be on fire. "I am so glad you're okay. You had me worried, and I almost never worry." He only said one word, but it made everything all better.

"Sorry."

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"Narnia's not going to run out of toast, Ed." I took a big gulp of water as I watched Edmund devour yet another piece of toast. I was eating with a bit more grace, but not much.

"Disgusting." I rolled my eyes; Ludwik was sitting in between Edmund and me, glowering at the boy. For some unknown reason Ludwik had decided that Edmund was a danger to me and kept himself in between us at all times.

"I'm sure they'll pack something up for the journey back." We all dared a look at Peter who was leaning against a boulder, cup in hand.

"We're going home?"

"You are." He sat down next to me; I rolled my eyes at him. "I promised Mum I'd keep you four safe. But it doesn't mean that I can't stay behind and help."

"But they need us. All five of us."

"Lucy, it's too dangerous. You almost drowned. Edmund was almost killed!" I tried to hold back my comments, but they just couldn't be helped.

"Peter, I know you're trying to protect your family, really I do. But you can't expect to be able to do this on your own. No one expects that of you. Besides, I have to stay either way. I am the Heart and Soul of Narnia." Without waiting for an answer I stomped off to the training grounds where Adrina was already waiting.

"You seem troubled Joanna. What is wrong?" I growled and unsheathed my sword.

"Nothing, just Peter trying to protect us all, again." She made a noise of recognition and she thrust forward. I blocked and pushed her sword backwards. I saw that she was neglecting her left side, but pretended not to notice. I faked a thrust to the right and when she went to block I turned and gently tapped her left side.

"Very good, I didn't think you would notice it." I smirked. "Let's see how you do with two swords." The smirk I was sporting immediately slid off my face. I nodded slowly and pulled out the other sword. "It would be best to start now so you can get used to using two swords and then we can play out mock battles. What do you do when someone knocks one of your swords out of your hands, like this?" With that she knocked one out of my hands, instinctively I ducked and got into the starting stance. "Correct." We went on for a while, learning to block with the two swords and attacking with them. It was much easier now that I had a clue to what I was doing. We took a small break and as we did I threw my hair back into its tight ponytail.

"Why doesn't Jo have to learn to fight on horseback?" I froze and felt my eyes widen. Horseback? My jaw clenched and I turned to glare at who said that, Edmund.

"Maybe because I don't need to. It's kind of hard to fight on horseback with two swords and no hands on the horse itself." I felt proud, and hopefully I got out of that.

"Don't worry My King, she will be doing so. Right now." I gulped, that's just great. How am I going to get out of this? You can injure yourself. Good idea, but then I wouldn't be able to practice with my swords. Or Lucy would come and heal me.

"But, Adrina I still haven't got the hang of using two swords. Maybe we should work on that before we work on horseback." She tilted her head in thought and then nodded. "Yes!" I clamped my hands over my mouthing, cursing in my head.

"You're afraid of horses?" I spun around and saw Ludwik on his back laughing. My hand twitched towards my sword, but instead I balled them into fists. I stood high and nodded my head. That's when Peter and Edmund started laughing. I shot them nasty looks and unsheathed my swords, ready to go practice. The two boys took off in one direction, Ludwik and me in another. "So you're really afraid of horses?" I nodded and he chuckled.

"Oh shut up. When I was ten my parents took us on a trail ride and the guide let us gallop. Of course I loved that, but the horse didn't seem to like me. So he bucked me off. I broke my leg in two places and sprained my wrist. I was in so much pain I started laughing. I've been afraid of horses ever since."

"That sounds painful. How is swordplay going?"

"Wonderful. Adrina says I'm good, for only beginning yesterday. With more practice I could be a great warrior."

"I'm sure you will be." He lay down near a rock as Adrina came.

"We have an audience now?" I shrugged sheepishly. Soon we became locked in battle, her having one huge sword, me with my two large ones. I swung towards her legs, being one of her only weaknesses at the same time I thrust my right sword at her shoulder. She raised her front legs as blocked my right sword with all her strength. My grip tightened as a shockwave rippled up my arm. It seemed we were at a standstill. That was until she had a burst on strength and shoved my sword out of my hand. I dived out of the way and awaited her next move, with only one sword. My other sword was stuck in the ground to Adrina's right. I would never reach it in time. I braced myself as she came at me. Just as she was about to strike Mrs. Beaver came running up, stopping us in mid attack.

"Joanna! The White Witch has demanded to have a meeting with Aslan and she's on her way!" My chest tightened as pure fury flooded through my veins. I sheathed both my swords, once I got the one out of the ground, and ran towards Aslan's tent, my blue dress whipping behind me. I got there just in time too.

"Jadis! Queen of Narnia! Empress of the Lone Islands!" She was being carried in by four Cyclops. Aslan growled at her, but she just smirked. I could practically hear my teeth grounding and I squeezed Edmund's shoulder in comfort. She glided slowly towards Aslan, while taking a glance at Edmund. My eyes met hers for a moment and in that second I tried to convey all the hatred I could through my eyes.

"You have a traitor in your midst, Aslan." Ludwik tried to move forward, but I pushed him back behind me, keeping him out of sight. The crowd began to murmur at her words; all the while my grip tightened on Edmund's shoulder.

"His offense was not against you."

"Have you forgotten the laws upon which Narnia was built?"

"Do not site the Deep Magic to me, Witch." Aslan growled out. "I was there when it was written." His eyes narrowed at her, daring her to question it.

"Then you'll remember well that every traitor belongs to me. His blood is my property." I had had enough of her and I'm assuming Peter had as well, because we unsheathed our swords.

"Try and take him then." The Minotaur grunted, his hold tightening on the axe he held.

"Do you really think mere force will deny me my right, Little King?" I was about to step forward when Edmund gently seized my wrist.

"Don't. It's not worth it." Without saying anything I sheathed my swords yet again. He never let go of my wrist. I didn't know why I did it, but I slid his hand down and clutched it in mine.

"… All of Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water." She then turned on Edmund. "That boy will die, on the Stone Table, as is tradition." My heart felt as if it had dropped to my shoes. Edmund was going to die? His hand tightened, almost painfully on my hand. Not to be outdone I squeezed back. "You dare not refuse me." The Witch and Aslan glared at each other for what seemed like eternity.

"Enough. I shall talk with you alone." And there we sat, waiting to hear Edmund's fate. You like him. No I don't. Yes you do. My thought train went on arguing until I was fed up.

"What could possibly be taking so long?" No one had an answer though. You like him and that's final. Okay I might like him and that's the best you're going to get. Try again. What do you feel when he's around you? Completely unaware of anything but him, I feel as if I can't breathe, I can get a bit dizzy and whatever he does I can't stay mad at him. You've got it bad, girl. Thank you just what I wanted to hear.

When Aslan and the White Witch walked out of the tent we all jumped to our feet. She was staring at Edmund in a way that I didn't like, it was triumph. She walked to her seat without a word. We all turned to Aslan, looking for an answer. "She has renounced her claim on the Son of Adam's blood." When he said this I was ecstatic.

"How do I know your promise will be kept?" Aslan roared a great roar and the White Witch fell back into her seat. The Narnians cheered. I don't know what came over me but I tackled Edmund to the ground and hugged him like there was no tomorrow. I may not be ready to admit I had feelings for my best friend, but I can hug him. His eyes were gleaming with happiness as he pulled me closer.

"I have to go finish practice." I started walking away, but I stopped. "Oh and Edmund I-" I froze. I couldn't do it now. "I'm so happy you're alive." Lame! Without another word I ran off, ready to spar with Adrina. The fight must have lasted for ten minutes, neither of us gaining ground. That is until I had the opportune moment. I swung one of my swords at her legs and knocked them out from under her and then put my other sword to her neck.

"I think you're ready. Though one can never learn too much. Keep that in mind." I nodded and pulled her up.

"Thanks for making me a fighter Adrina."

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Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

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Ah, another chapter comes to a close.

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