Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, its characters, anything Disney, Narnia or anyone/anything other than Nairbix. This chapter is a bit of a sad one just to let you know. If any of you has read The Magician's Nephew before, this takes place after it so you will not be seeing any of the human characters aside from Jadis. Hope you like it! Oh, and Shiranai Astune, thanks for following this story too. I'm glad you like it and if you have anything to ask about PM me or leave a review if you'd like.
Weeks had passed since Nairbix had manifested into existence, and life proved to be sweet for him. He had many friends in Narnia, the god of the river near his forest, the animals that lived beneath the trees that he watched over, the red dwarves that would often stop by to give him company during tea time though Nairbix enjoyed the food more than the actual drink.
The fauns and satyrs also befriended him when they came to learn more from the child. Yes the child was a teacher, of sorts, he would often share the knowledge given to him by Aslan to those who asked of it, and other times Nairbix would simply correct the Narnians' mistakes once he noticed them. However not all of those who walked Narnia were so kind to the boy.
These were the Narnians that Aslan had warned about, the hag tribe, several black dwarves, and wolves of certain packs, the werewolves and so many other creatures that were turning over to the side of Jadis. Nairbix had not yet met the would-be Queen of Narnia but from what he had heard, she was not someone who would enjoy sardines at tea time with the fauns.
While he had not personally met the Witch of Charn, Nairbix caught a glance at her once as he wondered near the borders of her confinement, courtesy of Aslan. She was a seven-foot tall woman with dirty blonde hair and skin as white as salt, and her eyes were dark gold and seemed to pierce all who stared into them.
She wore a long white dress that was riddled with the stains of nature, she wore no footwear and she wore a crown that once dignified her rule over the world she hailed from. But her most alerting detail was the stain around her mouth, it looked as though she had eaten an over ripe piece of black fruit, undoubtedly the stain came from the fruit of immortality she had devoured when she wondered Narnia during its first hours.
Nairbix had made sure to stay away from her and her followers as often as he could, but as time passed the boundary between the Witch and Narnia was slowly fading away; in time she would make her move on the land she wishes to conquer. But these were not the thoughts that filled Nairbix's mind today, today he could only think of what he would do in the paradise that was Narnia.
He was currently having a race with his friend, the Jackdaw, to see who was the fastest. He was called "The" Jackdaw because he was in fact the first Jackdaw to be taught in the same manner as Nairbix had on the first day of Narnia's existence by the will of Aslan.
"I thought you said, that you were the fastest flyer in all of Narnia second to Fledge the Pegasus, Jackdaw?!" Nairbix shouted to his friend who flew above him with a wide smile as he sprinted through the woods.
"That I am, little Nairbix!" Jackdaw replied almost laughing, "But it would seem that when it comes to matching your speed, I am out of my element!" The two friends simply laughed at the remark and continued with their race without a care in the world, but soon the winner was declared as Jackdaw flew down to a tree with exhaustion flowing through his small body.
"What's the matter, Jackdaw?" Nairbix asked trying to contain his laughter from the sight of his friend. "Too tired to finish a race with a child?"
"When you race against someone faster than you, Nairbix, you will know my reasons for letting a mere child win." Jackdaw retorted while panting.
"I sincerely doubt that I would be able to convince Aslan to race me, my friend." Nairbix replied as he crossed his arms.
"Aslan?" Jackdaw asked raised his head from the branch and gained an amused look from the embodiment of Narnia's darkness.
"Surly there is no one faster than I, but Aslan himself." Nairbix explained, once the two were rested Jackdaw had decided to fly back to his home leaving young Nairbix to his own. He was by himself in a forest that he was not familiar with that was too close the borders of Jadis's territory, but that didn't seem to faze him in the slightest.
Nairbix had spent hours in the woods unaware of the dangers that were looming around him, then from out of the darkness the subjects of the Witch emerged. Their total number was twelve and they seemed to surround Nairbix, the group consisted of three hags, three wolves, one Minotaur, two black dwarf archers, two werewolves, and one goyle all snarling and glaring at the child.
"Evening everyone, looking for something?" Nairbix teased nervously as the wolves circled him.
"Indeed we are, and it seems like we found you, darkness spawn." One of the wolves replied as the other two growled and barked at him.
"Me, whatever for?" Nairbix asked already certain of the answer.
"You are to come with us and swear fealty to Queen Jadis, at once." Replied a hag with her raspy voice.
"Then you all have come for nothing." Nairbix declared with courage, "You may tell your mistress, that I am loyal to Aslan and that I stand by to the freedom he gives to all of the good folk of Narnia." The followers of the false Queen chuckled darkly at his answer.
"Her Majesty said that you might say that." The Minotaur informed as he drew his axe.
"She also gave us these instructions, should you say those words." One of the dwarves added as he and his brother readied their bows. "If that be the case, then we have her full permission…to kill you to ensure that you don't assist Aslan in disrupting Her Majesty's plan."
"What plan, what does she intend to do?" Nairbix asked trying to hide his fear at the threat on his life, his enemies only laughed as they closed in on him.
"Let's just say…when the time comes…it's gonna get awful frosty here in Narnia." The Minotaur chuckled as the goyle screeched at Nairbix.
"Well, in that case…I suppose that I better find someplace to keep warm." Nairbix said as he darted off before his foes could kill him.
Thankfully, he wasn't too drained from his earlier race with Jackdaw to where it would cause him to be caught by Jadis's minions, still the wolves and werewolves were quickly gaining on him. Nairbix just ran as fast as he could in whatever direction that would lead to his safety, but unfortunately that was not the direction he was running to, it was the direction that led to the worst person he could bump into. Which he literally did, after falling on his behind, Nairbix looked up to see the tall figure of Jadis! He had ran straight into her territory!
"Oh, dear, did I get in your way, little one?" She asked with fake sweetness, clearly seeing through her false concern Nairbix sprang to his feet and stared down the evil Witch who would oppose the freedom of Narnia.
"Do not waste your breath with fake concern about me, Charn Witch!" Nairbix snarled, but Jadis continued to smile at him like a mother would to her child.
"Fake concern, whatever do you mean, child?" She asked.
"I know of your intentions for me! I know that you would have me killed if I do not side with you!" He shouted causing her smile to fade away.
"Is that so?" She asked as she began to circle Nairbix slowly. "What shall you do then? You clearly have nothing to oppose me or my forces with. What hope do you have to survive if I unleash my anger upon you for forsaking my offer?"
"Well-I…" Nairbix was at a loss for words, Jadis was right he had nothing to fight with and had no skills in combat whatsoever. His thoughts were soon interrupted by Jadis's voice.
"I am not so unmerciful as to let a child face me without any means to defend himself." She defended as she turned to look at her subjects behind Nairbix who glared at the child with hatred while Jadis glanced at him with a smirk. "Though my subjects may do…otherwise."
And with that the followers of the Witch began to chase the living embodiment of darkness. It wasn't long before Nairbix had discovered a cave entrance, having no other option he ran into the cave hoping to lose the servants of Jadis. The cave wasn't deep enough to hide in for long unfortunately, it looked as though it was carved out gray stone decorated with stalactites and stalagmites.
However, Nairbix noticed that at the end of the cave he could climb up the bulging wall to a ledge, hopefully this would give him safety. As he was climbing the wall, the werewolves were at his heels snarling and attempting to catch his little legs in their fangs, but Nairbix was able to climb much faster than the dark creatures.
He had managed to safely reach the ledge as his enemies tried to climb after him only to skid down the wall. Nairbix then noticed a strange pale light glowing at his side, he turned to see a long glowing gray crystal wedged in between a stalactite and a stalagmite.
Seeing this, Nairbix devised a plan that would hopefully take care of his pursuers. He crawled over to the crystal and began to kick it as hard as he could with both of his feet, after kicking it several more times the crystal finally broke out of its spot ready to be used for Nairbix's needs. He then rolled it to the edge above his enemies and looked at them one last time.
"Down with the bloody White Witch! Long live Aslan!" He shouted as he kicked the crystal over the edge. The werewolves' eyes widened as it came down on their heads along with the others' heads killing them all on impact. Nairbix then slid down the wall while grinning with victory. But as he had gotten near their lifeless bodies, they quickly shined blue before turning into stone.
"What is this magic?" He asked himself as he eyed the crystal, just then the sound of bare feet slapping against the cold stone floor could be heard from behind him; it was Jadis looking only at the crystal and not her fallen servants. She then bent down to pick up the long glowing gem with only one hand. After staring at it with her cold eyes for a moment, she smashed the crystal against the wall creating a clap of blue thunder in the cave and simultaneously blinding Nairbix for a moment.
When the light cleared, Jadis was giving a wicked smile as she looked at what was in her hand. In her hand was a long gray scepter that had a long gray crystal spear that held the power to turn whatever it pierced into stone. She then glanced at a wide eyed Nairbix without saying a word as she walked out of the cave, thoughts began to race in Nairbix's mind after he saw the weapon.
"Did she trick me into coming here?" He asked himself. It was possible, that ledge that held the crystal was fairly small and given Jadis's height it would have been impossible to climb up there and reach it herself. Nairbix was now gritting his teeth in anger as he realized that Jadis had in fact used him for her own benefit, even if he had managed to kill her followers.
After riding his head of these thoughts from his head, Nairbix made his way out of the cave only to be met with a cold chill through the air of the forest. It wasn't the type of chill that came from the climate. It was the type that left an anonymous feeling in the pit of one's stomach.
As he walked through the forest, Nairbix tripped over an oddly shaped stone, but after he picked himself up, he saw the stone and all of the blood left his face. The stone was actually a rabbit statue with a terrified expression attempting to run away from whatever frightened it.
Now more aware of his surroundings, Nairbix began to scan the ground around him only to find more Narnians in similar states of death. He even saw his friend Jackdaw on the ground at the base of a tree with one of his wings broken off, most likely due to the impact.
"What have I done?" Nairbix asked shakily as tears began to form in his eyes, his mourning was soon interrupted by a shrill shriek behind him. It was a young female faun carrying a basket of flowers. Nairbix then turned around and noticed that two of the statues were adult fauns; one male and one female. In other words, the little faun's parents. By now, other Narnians were beginning to surround the two and notice the statues, each of them had heard about the living manifestation and embodiment of their home's darkness, but none knew what he was capable of.
"Murderer!" The young faun cried out already convincing the other Narnians.
"Please, listen to me!" Nairbix pleaded as fear made its way into him. "I did not kill these-" He stopped, maybe he was responsible for their deaths. In his eyes, this was just as much his fault as Jadis's, he was the one who practically put the scepter in her hands.
"This is the evil that Aslan warned us about!" A badger shouted as he pointed his paw at Nairbix as everyone glared and shouted at the little boy in agreement. The orphaned faun even went as far as to chuck the broken wing that once belonged to Jackdaw at Nairbix's head. He stared down at the wing in shock as the pain made itself known to Nairbix. He then touched the wound to find his own blood for the first time on his finger tips and Jackdaw's wing. For a moment, he was deadly silent, but he then looked at the orphan and gave her a glare that should not belong in the eyes of a three year old boy.
"How dare you dishonor my fallen friend's body?" He said softly but harshly as his eyes blazed with emerald fire causing them all to step back in fear. He then put the wing in his coat's pocket, another stone was then tossed at his head drawing even more blood from his forehead. By now, many of the Narnians were readying themselves to strike against Nairbix.
"You must forge me." A soft voice said in Nairbix's head only to be ignored by him. Despite his bravery, Nairbix had no skills in combat; especially given his size and lack of strength compared to those around him.
With no other option, he darted into the forest as fast as his legs could carry him with the Narnians at his heels. Thankfully, he was still the fastest in Narnia, second only to Aslan so getting away wasn't much of the problem at hand. What was the problem, was getting across the great river to his forest without being caught by his pursuers. If luck was on his side, then maybe his friend, The River God would help him to safety. Today was certainly not the best day for young Nairbix.
As he was running, he was constantly being pelted by stones and at one point, one of them brought him to the ground giving several birds the chance to claw and peck at his face before running again. After he finally made it to the river, Nairbix cried out in pain for his friend to give him safe passage. The River God then took physical form made out of the water and gladly did so. But Nairbix did not stop running after he lost the mob, he didn't stop until he came to the base of the Toffee Tree with blood streaming down his head from the wounds the Narnians gave him.
He then pulled out Jackdaw's wing and caressed it in his bloody little hands as he sobbed. "Jackdaw." He wept as he remembered his friend's petrified form of death.
Though he and the Narnians did not know it, Narnia had experienced the first chill of the Witch's winter with the chill of the first deaths to occur in Narnia.