Disclaimers: See Prologue for more info.
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Okay, so to correct myself, this story is a blend of the movies and books in the Chronicles of Narnia series.
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The hours seemed to slow down. Frodo, having nothing to do and nowhere to go, found himself moving about the how, in an effort to speak with the Narnians. Whether to kill time or to just be friendly, it was all he could do to keep moving.
He met a centaur woman with black locks of hair and dark skin, quietly having a conversation with the other centaurs. She seemed like a friendly woman. Maybe it was for the best, since Sam left him alone to speak with the Narnians. Frodo's attention returned to the centaur woman, who was in sorrow and near hopelessness.
"He will return." She said with a fiery confidence. "He must." She sobbed. "I need him."
He placed a warm hand on her cold shoulder. "We'll find him. He will return."
"How?" She asked, curtly. "My mate would never leave me."
"Well, battles do this to us." He inquired, keeping his cool. "Sometimes we lose the ones we care about, the ones we love. That doesn't mean we won't stop living. We must keep going."
"I hope you're right." She said, turning her head away from him.
He stood up. His thoughts dwindled on what she said, even as he moved away from her. Were they really going to lose this fight? Was there any hope for them? From what it seemed, some of the Narnians were giving up hope. Would that mean the same for him?
No! He mustn't give up hope. He must find a way to break free and know he was safe. Peter wanted him to stay, but for whatever reason? He wasn't a healer. He only knew how to heal small cuts and bruises. To heal others was uncanny. Surely, Lucy had a way to do just that. That would ease his mind.
His footsteps wandered to the tunnel once more. Just like that, he was back at the Stone Table, where Lucy sat and gazed at her cordial with its red liquid inside. She turned and looked at him, restoring her cordial to its red leather satchel. Clearly, he missed something.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He said, moving to sit down beside her. "I just want to talk."
"Peter, Susan and Edmund aren't back." Lucy said, perplexed. "If only I could fight alongside them, but…" she pointed to the lion on the wall, "…I know Aslan will come and help us, help save us, like last time."
"I wasn't here last time." Frodo admitted, calmly. He looked at his hands absentmindedly. "I hardly know what happened the last time you were here." He looked at her then. "You know what I mean."
"I do." Lucy said, also calm. "It was winter when Peter, Susan, Edmund and I first stepped foot on Narnian soil. We changed the seasons by coming here and defeated the White Witch, who claimed herself to be the queen of Narnia. She wasn't and she was defeated by Aslan himself." She added, fondly, "Aslan means a lot to me, to all the Narnians. I won't lose hope. We will see him." She paused. "I want you to come with me."
Frodo looked at her, curiosity enveloping his vision. He wanted to help, but how could he do that? Aslan could help these people and themselves. Was that possible? Of course it was, but he had yet to see the Lion. Then again, what did he have to lose?
"I want to be involved in this fight." He admitted to her. "Somehow, in some way, I was meant to be here."
She nodded. "I know. We all are."
"So, what can I do to help?" He asked, almost pleading.
"Help me find Aslan." She told him, calmly. "Help me find him and maybe we can end this war."
He shrugged. "What do we have to lose?"
"A lot." She asked, curious, "You believe me?"
He looked at her, fondly. "I believe you. We just need a plan."
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Frodo managed to sleep through the night. It was the dream that had startled him.
There he was, in front of the stone dueling ring outside Aslan's How. He witnessed Peter fighting against an older man with golden armor. The man looked fierce, but so did Peter. Frodo watched in horror. Peter was going to lose. Wait! No, he wasn't. He was winning the fight. The older man, Miraz, went down. Peter won the battle but he didn't draw the final blow.
Someone else did. A boy he couldn't see. Was he going to attack the man, too?
"Frodo!" Lucy called the hobbit, waking him up. "Come on. Let's go. Peter's back!" She smiled his way. Oh, how he loved that!
"What a dream." Frodo muttered under his breath. Really, he didn't need that wake-up call.
He moved out of the tunnel, into the next tunnel, until he was outside the how. There Peter was, only he was moody. An argument broke out between Peter and Caspian, an argument that Frodo hoped would end peacefully. He moved to stand next to Sam, but only for a moment. The fight ended with Lucy using her cordial to wake Trumpkin, with whatever juice was in that glass flask.
Frodo smiled, relieved to see the dwarf alive and well. He was all right. Trumpkin was all right! And Caspian headed back inside. He might as well follow him into the how, check up on him.
"Mr. Frodo!" Sam's cries grew faint as Frodo neared the how. Frodo was determined to find out what was bothering Caspian, see if he could resolve this matter once and for all. He just hoped that, in the end, he had followed the right path.
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Thanks for reading. :)
