A/N- In response to a couple of reviews I have received in recent time: a reminder to all that this is "fanfiction," so the exact details and plots of the stories we write upon are often changed, added to, or taken away from. Not everything from the movies I took inspiration from is still extant here, and there are some aspects belonging to this storyline alone that you won't find elsewhere. While echoing closely to the story series this particular adventure hearkens to, it is a unique tale in and of its own right.

Now, with that in mind, as I promised I would try here is the second chapter for this weekend. Onward!

Chapter 5

Waking in Fantasy

I came to slowly, the feeling returning to my limbs and body bit by bit, and then the rather expected sensation of lying flat. The sensation of laying on something extremely soft, however, was not expected. "This passing out thing is really getting old," I mumbled to myself, before slowly attempting to open my eyes.

I was lying in a very large bed, in an even larger room, all of which appeared very ornately decorated. Slowly, to avoid becoming lightheaded again, I sat up. Looking at the bed, it was rather clear I was in the castle, as no other place was going to be able to afford such luxury. Then, I looked to my left.

"AAAHHH! Geez, Astrid, do you have to do that?!"

Astrid chuckled and stood up from the chair she was sitting in, very close to the bed. "A little déjà vu is good for you now and then, don't you agree?" she teased, referring to the time I first woke up in Berk. I rolled my eyes and, after making sure I did have my clothes on, turned and slid out of the bed. "Where's all my stuff?" I asked. Astrid, who was heading toward the door, pointed to the corner of the room, where sure enough, my pack and weapons were sitting on a small, ornate looking table. "Thanks," I said, and walked over to them, digging through the pack to make sure everything was still there before slinging them on.

I turned to see Astrid poke her head out the door. "Yeah, he's officially up now," she said to someone, then popped back into the room. A moment later, the door opened fully and in walked Hiccup, followed by Caspian, Reepicheep, and then the rest of the teens.

Suddenly, the room didn't feel quite as big as it did before.

"I hope you're not going to faint from the sight of us again," Caspian joked, a warm smile on his face. I sighed and shook my head. "No, no, I think I should be fine," I replied. "I apologize for that." As I spoke, my eye swept downward to Reep. "By now I really should be used to finding the utterly unexpected turning up in my life."

Caspian nodded, and sat down in a nearby chair, the teens taking up seats or slumping along the wall on either side of him. I could tell we weren't leaving the room for a bit, so I shrugged my bag off again and perched on the end of the bed. "If you don't mind me asking," Caspian began, "I am rather curious to know a bit more about where you come from." "Yes, judging just by your clothes alone we can tell you're not a Viking," Reepicheep added.

I shot Hiccup a look, and he held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I didn't really say anything," he defended. I sighed, and looked back at Caspian. "Well, it's a long story, really, so before I try to explain it, let me ask you a question first," I said. "Does the name 'Pevensie' ring a bell at all?"

For a moment no one said anything. Then, Caspian began laughing. "Only a fool here in Narnia would not know that name," he said. I smiled and nodded. "Well, for one that confirms a theory I've had for a little while, and second off, you understand I'm sure the concept of traveling between different worlds." Caspian raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, intrigued. "Do you come from…oh, what did they call it….London as well?" This time I chuckled and shook my head. "No, no, I don't come from their world. And London is the name of a city, one you do find in my home, but I live on an entirely different continent." I waved my hand dismissively. "But, that's not really an important detail. If what I know of the history of this place with the Pevensie siblings, my way between my home and this world is unrestricted unlike theirs. I can travel directly between my own home and the island of Berk."

"Ah, yes, the island where your friends come from," Reepicheep noted. "Well, not all of us," Cami reminded. "Thuggory and I do come from different tribes."

Caspian stood up. "Well, then Hawken, now that that part is cleared up some, I can now properly welcome you here as our guest," he said, holding out his hand. I took it. "It's not often we see people from other lands even on this continent," he continued, "so you are welcome to stay for a little while, at least until my voyage begins."

That word piqued our curiosity, and Astrid turned toward us from where she was examining a pair of ornamental swords. "Voyage? Of what kind?" Caspian turned to her. "Oh, just some issues I have to clear up. There's a little bit of a mystery going on upon some of the islands to the west of here. I have to find some missing friends." I chuckled in response. "Well, we are here on duty of exploration," I said. "Perhaps we could join you to help."

Caspian smiled. "Possibly, but I would have to find out first if we have a ship and crew that would be able to accommodate you all, since I am sure you would not be leaving your dragons here, am I right?"

A unanimous "Yes!" went up as the answer, and Caspian nodded. "Very well. Yes, the ship we were originally going to use, the Tristan, would not be big enough, so I will have to see if there is a proper size vessel available. In the meantime, you are perfectly free to explore the castle as you wish, or the surrounding island, I just ask you not to disturb anything of value." I looked directly at Snotlout and Tuffnut. "That means you two don't touch anything," I warned. "And that goes for you as well Cami," I added as I watched her eyeing the ceramic flower vase sitting on the nightstand by the bed. She jerked and blushed at being caught, before moaning.

"But that's what I'm good at!" she complained. "I'd give it back, most of it." "I know, but I am warning you I will know if you touch or take anything, and you know I will know." Cami slouched and groaned again. "Fine," she conceded.

"Um, pardon the interruption, Hawken," Reepicheep spoke up, climbing onto the ornate table, "but if you don't mind my inquiring, exactly how is it you can speak to the dragons?" My eyes widened in mild surprise at him knowing this, before I looked at Hiccup again. "I thought you said you guys didn't tell them much," I quipped. He held up his hands again. "Quit looking at me, I didn't," he defended. "It was Stormfly who let that secret out." I sighed. "Of course, I should have guessed." Turning to Reepicheep again, I said, "I simply am able to speak their language. I'm sure most could actually learn it if they took the time, but I was gifted." The mouse nodded in reply. "And, out of curiosity, do you come from the same time as the Pevensies?"

This question took me a minute to think about, but I eventually chuckled and shook my head. "No, I don't believe so. The books I read where I come from that tell stories about them suggest they were in the middle of what we call World War II." I shook my head. "Where I come from such events already passed long ago. But, on the other hand, where I come from everything I've seen of this place is nothing but books and stories, so who knows what time we're all really in. Even the friends I came with here never existed in my world, and neither did the Pevensies."

Caspian, who hadn't left yet but was simply listening from the doorway, stood up straight again. "So, there are actually more than just two parallel worlds?" he asked. I shrugged. "Well, as far as I can tell from what I've seen."

"Hey! Could we stop talking and get something to eat?" Snotlout suddenly butted in, ending our conversation right then and there. The gang all glared at him, but Caspian only laughed at the outburst. "Of course, you're all welcome to join me for dinner," he invited. "It will be another hour or so, so I guess until then you can go to the kitchen and see if there's anything extra they might have-" "Don't give him any ideas," Astrid warned him. Caspian only laughed again. "Well, I have to go check in on finding a proper ship, but I will see you all again around dinner. Again, feel free to explore, just don't touch anything!"

With that, he headed out of the room, followed soon after by Reepicheep, who I could tell had more questions at the ready, but apparently had to help the king. Hiccup looked at me after they left.

"So that's why you passed out," he noted. "This place is another movie come to life." I frowned. "Well, considering Caspian has dark brown hair instead of blonde, so far it's looking like the movie version, but we can't be sure yet." I glanced toward the window of the room. "Either way, though, nothing's really happened yet, but considering what Caspian said he's about to go find, one of them may be about to happen." I looked at each of the teens in sequence, a serious expression on my face. "Certainly keep your wits about you. It may be coincidence, it may not be as bad as I am imagining, but in any case if we do all decide to join him, be ready for anything." And with that dark note, we all filed out of the room to either find the dragons or, in mine and Hiccup's case, explore the castle after his dragon found us.

It certainly wasn't exact, but the place we were in was very similar to the movie Narnia I'd become familiar with. There were all sorts of people about, busying themselves with duties around the castle or visiting from the town that was apparently not too far away, and every now and then some sort of familiar animal would run by, giving us a start as they apologized for speeding past us or simply saying hello. At one point, after I'd split off from Hiccup and Toothless and ran into Astrid, I happened to look out a window and spot a griffin land on the outer wall of the castle.

There's an interesting fact for the readers: griffins, for all the supposed mishmash body parts people describe them as having, are actually a species of dragon, with the scales modified into forms of feathers like some rare species and a birdlike beak to match.

But, there was one detail that stood out startlingly clear as missing though: the books and movies so many people enjoy are famous for the other creatures of myth and legend that populated Narnia, but none of them were here. There were no centaurs, no fauns or minotaurs: heck, even the most unusual animals running around couldn't really be called more strange than Barfbelch. Astrid must have noticed my perplexed and deeply-in-thought look, as she stepped away from the tapestry on the wall behind us and walked over to where I leaned against the windowsill.

"Something wrong?" she asked, looking out the window as well at the castle courtyard below. I smiled and shook my head as I drifted back to reality (or, this world's version of it). "No, nothing wrong, just something confirming another theory of mine. There's a key feature that's missing here." "And what would that be?" she asked curiously. I smiled. "Well, the books and movies both had creatures in them from all sorts of myths and legends, like fauns and centaurs. Though that was probably to just increase the magical aspect of the story the author was hoping for." Astrid laughed. "Really? The Greek myths? That's funny." I shrugged. "Eh, dragons are no more than myth in every culture of my world. Or, at least they used to be, that's not really the difference."

We stood in silence for a moment, before Astrid replied, "Good point. So why do you think they're not here?" I smirked. "Such things couldn't really be possible. A creature that's half human, half animal in permanence really couldn't survive in any way. And of course there's the fact that such half-creatures are considered unnatural or demonic by most beliefs." Astrid nodded. "Well, you're probably right, especially on that first one. Such things just can't actually be meant to be, can they?" I shrugged again, and Astrid frowned. "Is that your answer for everything?" I shrugged exaggeratedly and tried not to laugh as Astrid mockingly punched me in the shoulder. "Ha ha, very funny. You're just as bad as Hiccup with his silly hand gestures," she teased.

Just then, Caspian came walking by, trailed by the rest of the gang. The dragons were outside, since some of the castle halls were a bit small for some of them. "There you two are," he said, walking toward us. "Dinner is in only a few minutes, and I did manage to find a ship large enough if you are, in fact, planning to come along, but the crew expects you to help out on occasion at least, to make carrying you worth their time and money." I nodded in response and looked to Hiccup. "You guys agree?" He nodded in response, followed by the other teens. "Well, then, I guess its settled: we'll tag along, at least for a while," I confirmed. "Besides, what did we come out here for if it wasn't a little exploration and adventure?"

A/N-Indeed, what did we come here for? :)

As always, read and review!