Chapter 2

It was a pine tree, covered in snow. But not just one. There was an entire forest of snow covered trees. Hiccup couldn't believe his eyes. Either winter had come early and his bedroom wall and the wardrobe had a hole in exactly the same place and the ground had risen up to meet the height of his bedroom floor, all in the span of mere minutes, or something weird had happened. Well, weirder, considering this is Hiccup we're talking about.

Hiccup turned to make sure that he could make it back to his room and he could just make out the small opening in the wardrobe's door he had left. Turning back around, he made his way deeper into this winter wonderland. Up ahead, he saw a faint light and he made his way toward it. Off in the distance, he heard a faint ringing of bells. But it was not the happy tone that one hears around Snoggletog. It was a dark sound, like the bells heard after a funeral. He quickly moved toward the light, which was now much stronger. As he turned into a small clearing, he was meet by a most peculiar sight. A large metal pole and a flame encased in glass at the top, seemed to be growing (as in with roots!). Hiccup walked up to this odd... thing and touched it. It was cold, like metal should be in winter, but also had a certain warmth to it, as if it was alive.

Suddenly there was a crack and the crunch of snow. A dark shape moved through the thick branches. He spun around looking wildly for the creature that, most surely, was hunting him. Then the being walked out and they both took one glance at each other before screaming. Hiccup fell right on his backside, while the other person dropped his packages and ducked behind a tree.

Hiccup tried to catch his breath. After a few quick gulps of air, he started to fumble for his small dagger, but remembered he had left it in his room back outside the wardrobe. He glanced up to the tree where the other person was hiding. That person kept glancing around the tree as if Hiccup was some dangerous dragon about to attack him. Well, if you can't beat 'em... Hiccup slowly stood up with one of the parcels in hand. The person came out from behind the tree holding some type of weird spear pointed at him. Hiccup kept eye contact and started to talk in the most soothing voice he could muster. "Um... I think you dropped this."

"Uh, yes-I'll just-um, if you could just-thank you," he replied, taking the package.

"Sorry for startling you. You just snuck upon me and-" Hiccup stopped short. His eyes got as wide as diner plates as they traveled downward. Why, you ask? First, this person was wearing no shirt, just a scarf, in the middle of winter! Second, this person was not a person at all. Instead of human legs, he had goat legs. And, now that Hiccup took a closer look at his face, he didn't have human ears but goat ears along with goat horns.

"What is it? Some snow in my hair?" the being asked, franticly wiping imaginary snow off the top of his head.

"Oh! N-no, it's just that, well, not meaning to be rude but, what are you?"

"Well, I'm a-! I'm a faun! And what about you! You must be some kind of... beardless dwarf?"

"Not too far off the mark," Hiccup said bitterly as he thought of his size compared to the other Vikings of Berk and their beards. "But, no, I'm not a dwarf. I'm a boy."

The faun looked shocked at this remark. "You mean to say, that you're a Son of Adam?"

"Um... My dad's name is Stoick and my mother's name was Valhallarama-"

"Yes, yes, but you are... in fact... human?"

"No, I'm a Gronkle. Of course, I'm human!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Um, I was hiding from Astrid in my wardrobe which was in my room, when I suddenly felt-"

"Mayoom? Is that in Narnia?"

"I don't know. I've never heard of it before. But what's Narnia?"

"Well, my boy, you're in it. Everything from the lamppost..." Here the faun pointed to the tall metal poll. So that's what it's called. "...all the way to castle Cair Pairavel on the Eastern Ocean." The faun then pointed to something beyond Hiccup's sight, but everything in between... it was breath taking. "Every stick and stone you see... every icicle... is Narnia."

"And it's all inside the wardrobe," Hiccup breathed, completely amazed.

"War Drobe? Oh! I'm sorry, please allow be to introduce myself. My name is Tumnus."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Tumnus. I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III."

"Well then, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, from the shining city of War Drobe in the wondrous land of Mayoom, how would it be if you came and had tea with me?"

"Just call me Hiccup."

"That is a really long name."

"I know. And thank you for inviting me but I should probably get back. Astrid is going to kill me already for being out so long."

"Well, it's only just around the corner, and if you're already going to be in trouble, why rush back?" I hadn't thought of it like that. "Plus, there will be a glorious fire with toast and tea and cakes. And, perhaps, we'll even break into the sardines."

Hiccup, having been out in the cold for quite some time, thought that the prospect was quite nice sounding. But his fear of what the others had put him through before held him back from going along with it. "I'm not sure..."

"Oh come on. It's not every day I get to make a new friend."

It was these words that changed Hiccup's mind. He had never had a friend. Sure, when he had been younger, he had hung out with the other kids his age, but even then it was more of a 'Hey, here comes Hiccup! Let's tease and make fun of him!' relationship. So when Mr. Tumnus called him a friend after only a short meeting in the woods, Hiccup grabbed on and clung. "I guess I could come for a little while."

"Alright then, let's be off!" Mr. Tumnus then took his spear and opened it up to form a cloth roof over their heads. Hiccup made a mental note to look into that and ask Mr. Tumnus about it later. Something like that would defiantly come in handy on Berk.

During the walk, Mr. Tumnus pointed out many features of this land. Hiccup found it all fascinating. Fairly quickly, they reached a small door in the side of a cliff. Upon entering this door, Hiccup found himself inside a cozy cave that didn't look much like a cave at all. It looked far more like a home than a cave. As Hiccup looked around he spotted a painting of a faun, which he took to be Mr. Tumnus. As he admired the detail in the painting that made it so life like, Mr. Tumnus said, "That is my father."

"Really! I thought he was you, you're so similar."

He heard Mr. Tumnus murmur quietly, "No. No, I'm not very much like him at all, really."

Hiccup let out a dry chuckle that lacked humor. "I know what that's like."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well... My dad is the perfect Viking plus more. He's 7' 2'' and almost 400 lbs. They say when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulder's."

"Probably just a rumor. Surely, you don't believe it?"

"Yes, I do. And then, looking me, ...not so much. I mean, even my name. You know, it's Viking tradition to name the runt of the littler, Hiccup. My father's the chief of the village. He's been on raids and led all the searches for the dragon's nest and leads the warriors into battle during times of war."

"My father went away to war too." Hiccup smiled. It was yet another thing they had in common. "But that was a long, long, time ago. Before this dreadful winter."

"Winter's not all bad. Where I come from, it's winter most of the year. There's ice skating and snowball fights... and Snoggletog!"

"Snogwhat?" Mr. Tumnus asked as they sat down with the tea.

"You know. When Odin comes and leaves stuff in your helmet or boots. When you put up a big tree in the center of town."

"Oh! You mean Christmas."

"...Sure," Hiccup replied, thinking it was a translation.

"Well, not here. No, we haven't had a Christmas in a hundred years."

"What!? No Snogle-er, Christmas in 100 years?"

"Always winter, never Christmas. It's been a long winter."

The faun handed Hiccup a cup with tea in it as he continued to speak. "But you would have loved Narnia in summer. We fauns danced with the dryads all night and we never got tired. And music! Oh, such music. Would... would you like to hear some now?"

"Oh! Sure! I'd love too."

Mr. Tumnus reached above the hearth and pulled down a box. After opening it, Hiccup saw a small Y-shaped panpipe. "Now, are you familiar with any Narnian lullabies?"

"Um, no, sorry."

"Well, that's good. Because this... probably won't sound anything like one."

The faun cleared his throat and started to play. The melody was a slow, haunting one, yet also enchanting. It was different from the drums and flutes of the Great Hall, or even Gobber's panpipes. Hiccup was mesmerized. As he listened to the song, he watched the fire burn at the logs in the fireplace. Suddenly, as the flames flickered, he could have sworn he saw a man riding a horse.

Startled, he looked to Mr. Tumnus. The faun nodded his head, indicating that it was nothing unusual. Hiccup relaxed and continued to watch the fire. He saw a magnificent stage being chased by a party of hunters. He saw the fauns dancing as Mr. Tumnus described, and he could have sworn that he also herd their laughter. Then the scene changed and he saw a multitude of creatures dancing.

As these images showed, Hiccup could feel himself getting more and more tired. The warm tea, the cozy house and fire, the soft music, it all was so nice and comfortable. Just a few moments rest. Then I'll leave and go back to my room and Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Astrid. Astrid…

With this last thought, Hiccup's head fell to his chest as the cup of tea fell to the floor.

000

When Hiccup came back around, it was dark. He shot up and franticly rushed to the window. The sight that met his eyes confirmed his fears. Night was upon them. Astrid's gonna kill me.

In his haste to reach the window, Hiccup forgot about Mr. Tumnus. Quickly, he spun around to find his friend. He found him, curled up in the farthest corner. As he slowly made his way over, he could hear the faun muttering to himself. "I'm such a terrible faun."

Hiccup's eyes widened and he hurried over to his distraught friend. "No! No, no, no! You're one of the nicest people I've ever met. You couldn't have done anything that bad. Not anything worse than my many failures."

Mr. Tumnus looked up at him, tears leaking from his eyes and shining in the dark. "It's not something I have done, Hiccup Haddock. It's something I'm doing."

Hiccup cocked his head to the side, curious and trying desperately to help the one person he had been able to call his friend. "What are you doing?"

"I'm kidnapping you."

Hiccup took a step back, a look of betrayal crossing his face as Mr. Tumnus began speaking quickly, franticly. "It was the White Witch. She gave orders. Said that if anyone found a human, they were supposed to turn them over to her!"

"But, I trusted you." Hiccup's voice did not carry an ounce of anger, hurt, or betrayal in it. Just shock.

Mr. Tumnus turned his head down and wiped a few tears away with his hand.

"You said that you were my friend." There is the hurt and betrayal.

Mr. Tumnus looked back at him and Hiccup sees something new. Determination.

In, but a few moments, they are running through the snow. Hiccup remembered the faun's words as they quickly got ready to leave. "We must be quick and quiet. The woods are full of her spies. Even some of the trees are on her side!" He anxiously looked around at the large bare trees.

After a while, they burst through the tree line find themselves in front of the lamppost. "Can you make your way back from here?"

Hiccup looks around and can just barely make out the crack in the wardrobe leading to his room. "Yes. I see the way. Will you be alright?" he says, turning to the faun.

"Don't worry about me. Just get home."

Hiccup stays, silently looking at him. "Thank you. For helping."

Mr. Tumnus quietly starts to cry again, but manages to get out, "No matter what happens Hiccup, I am glad to have met you. You've made me feel warmer than I've felt in a hundred years."

Hiccup smiles. "You're the first friend I've ever had."

Mr. Tumnus gives a small smile through the tears, but then says, "Now go. Go!"

Hiccup nods and quickly runs for the door.