Color

Peter's POV

My eyes sweep over the battle field, looking, no, hoping, for any sign of Edmund. The rain is pouring down and I have to wipe it from my eyes. We had done the one thing that General Oreius told us to never, under any circumstances do, separate. For a moment I was back at the Cair, standing in the Training Yard after a particularly rough practice.

"My Kings, the day will come when Narnia will enter battle once more. It may not be tomorrow or the day after, or the next, but the day will come for it is written in the stars as are all things. But there is something that it is crucial for you to know," both of us look up at Oreius, curiosity piqued, "you are the other's greatest weakness." He immediately holds up a hand to stop whatever arguments we were babbling. "How many times have you, King Peter, been injured when searching for your brother in battle? And you, King Edmund, how many times have you taken an arrow, a sword, even a club for your brother? You truly are the other's greatest weakness, however, you are also the other's greatest strength." There is a confused silence while Edmund and I ponder on the generals words. He speaks again, "King Peter, when King Edmund was last injured in battle with the Northern Giants you slew five of them single handedly because your royal brother was unconscious on the field. King Edmund, when King Peter was hit by the hag's spell in the Western Wood you slew the hag and any other fell beast who tried to stop you from returning your brother safely to camp. Yes, you are the other's greatest weakness but more importantly you are the other's greatest strength. It would do you well to remember this my Kings. No matter what you do, do not get separated in the field of battle for then your defense is halved and I pray to the Lion that he will watch over you for no one is a better guard then your own blood. Now let's get back to training, I have several more water buckets that are just waiting to be carried up to the Astronomy Tower."

I'm pulled from my memories when I hear a shout. Not just any shout, Edmund's shout. It is the scream I have feared ever since we lived back in Spare Oom. It is that very scream that lets me know the White Witch, our endless battles or something much worse has appeared in his dreams. It is the same cry of pain that ripped from his throat as we were held captive by Telmarines for fifteen days while he was brutally tortured. Yes, I know that scream well.

I begin to sprint to across the field but the mud makes it hard to move without slipping. I look up and at exact moment Edmund tumbles over the edge, one arm clutched tightly to his chest, his face screwed up with pain. Suddenly, my world turns black and white, losing all color except for a hideous splash of red across my brother's chest. It's like a disturbing painting. I nearly throw up on the battle field but I'm too angry to do anything but find the man who hurt my brother.

Suddenly my vision goes black. It seems that only seconds later my sight returns full force, but things are not as I left it. I am standing in the center of a circle of corpses. Every man's throat is slashed and blood pools around them like red velvet. My breathing is heavy and adrenaline is pumping through my veins. What happened? I glance at Rhindon, the blade is dripping with a red liquid that I keep telling myself couldn't possibly be blood. I finally notice that the field is silent, the rain has stopped along with the clashing of weapons. The Galmans have surrendered. Thrown their weapons to the ground and placed their hands on their heads. Something is missing though. I can't put my finger on it. Then it hits me as if the Great Lion Himself pounced on my chest. Edmund.

Oreius walks up behind me giving me a report on the casualties but I can't concentrate knowing my brother may be part of that statistic.

"General, take care of the Galmans. I'm going to find my brother." I cut him off mid sentence but his face pales, realizing what I'm implying.

"Sire, you're brother, was he not with you?"

I can't speak so I just shake my head and begin to make my way through the mounds of bodies, searching the river for any sign of him. I vaguely hear Oreius sounding an alarm behind me and gathering a search party. They're following me, but have the good sense not to ask any questions.

I begin to lower myself down the ledge. The river must have carried him downstream. I beg the River God for help but he is dormant, it nears the month of Harsh Frost, and when the water freezes and all creatures of the water sleep to conserve heat. He would be of no help to us now.

I occasionally glance in the direction of the sun, it's been an hour and still no luck. Tears flow freely down my cheeks but I don't care enough to wipe them away. What kind of brother am I? The kind that lets your seventeen year old kid brother go into battle and get mortally wounded. A dark part of my mind whispers. I don't try to fight it. The voice is about to continue to taunt me but I see something peculiar, a hand is sticking out over a log. Without hesitation I step into the river. The current is strong so I strip off my armor and sword. I swim at a diagonal until I reach the log and grip it firmly with my right hand. I pull myself on top of it to get a better look. It is Edmund, but he doesn't look good in the slightest. His armor on his shoulder is caught on the log but it twisted him in such a way that his shoulder was dislocated. Shivers wracked his already thin body and the gash on his chest leaked red. I could thank Aslan for one thing , his head stayed above water, there was hope yet.

I desperately called for help. A Griffin swooped down and lands fragilely on a rock next to us.

"Can you get him to the Cair?" I shout.

"La, Sire, if you can get him on my back, I fear in his condition my talons would only injure him further."

Slowly, I put one arm around his waist and I use the other to remove his shoulder plate, effectively detaching him from the log. The next part would be tricky. I motioned to the Griffin to land on the log. It teetered slightly but seemed to even out. Carefully, I scoop Edmund into my arms bridal style, removing any armor that I can get off with one hand. With luck I can only thank the Lion for; I manage to get him just down to his tunic. The dwarves were going to be furious that they would have to make him another set of armor but I'm afraid they'd have to deal with it. This would be his what? Tenth set? Between growth spurts and battles he's gone through more than Lucy and I combined.

Gently, I placed his limp body on the Griffin's back, using both of our sword belts and various other leather straps I tore form our armor to tie him in place.

"Thank you good Cousin, make haste and you shall be greatly rewarded!" With that the Griffin beat his powerful wings and takes off as fast as he can manage in the direction of the Cair. I say a silent prayer, but I have duties as High King, and as much as it breaks my heart, I cannot return home until I see to them. My brother must wait.

A/N

*Rubs back of head sheepishly* So, it's been what, six months? A year? I've honestly lost track of time but for some period I sort of lost my obsession with Narnia. I was going through a hard time with finding myself and as stupid as it sounds I was angry with Narnia because of a whole religious mess you guys don't want to hear about. But if you do have some religious advice for me I would really appreciate it right now...

Anyways, I finally had time to write because I got suspended at school for ten days, (for a dumb reason if you ask me. Oh wait, no one has actually asked me what happened at school. That is totally fair. Yup, 1010% fair. Whatever I'm done.) And I saw a picture of Georgie Henley online when I was looking at cool ways I could do my hair. Nope I totally didn't steal her hairstyle nope why would I ever do that? *Puts hat on head to cover hair* So then I got over myself, had some Narnia feels and then this was born.

Hope everyone enjoyed it!

~Hain