Chapter 6
The Familiar Five
When Caspian said it was a big ship, he wasn't exaggerating. The Dawn Treader in the movie was probably around, eh 150, maybe 200 feet long at most. The version we were going to be sailing on was at least twice that. "Looks like we certainly won't be having any spatial problems," I remarked as we climbed aboard. Looking over at the dragons on deck, I asked, "You guys sure you'll be comfortable staying below deck?"
They all nodded. ::We don't really mind cramped spaces too much,:: Fireworm remarked. ::It'll just be like staying in a moving house. And, as long as we can get out and fly around every now and then, at least, we'll all be fine.:: "Very well," I replied. "Let's get settled in properly then."
Within an hour, everyone was on board, and settled in their respective rooms. Hiccup, Thuggory, and I shared a room, Snotlout and Fishlegs got stuck with the twins, and Astrid and Cami were together in their room. We would leave in the morning, as it was already getting quite late, but we did manage to get everyone comfortable before the sun went down. As the colors blazed over the ocean, I decided to get out of my cabin and have a look around, so when no one else could see me, I transformed and melted in the shadows, before setting out to explore our temporary home.
The ship was an average one when it came to the general build: the cargo hold with provisions and equipment in the bottom, a rowing room just above the water line, and a second empty cargo bay about midway up the ship toward the front where the dragons were staying. Along with those places we had the necessary kitchen area, navigation room, and of course the bedrooms occupied by everyone on board, though there were a couple empty ones still.
As I passed into the rowing hold, I spotted Reepicheep making his way down along the center aisle. No one else was around, so I silently materialized and changed back to human, stepping lightly up behind him.
"Hey Reep." The mouse leapt up into the air in surprise, before landing gracefully, pulling out his sword and spinning toward me. "Who in the world dares….Hawken?" he sputtered. I chuckled in reply. "Oh, come on, you're not going to shish kebab me just for that are you?" He blinked and slid his sword back into its scabbard. "How on earth did you manage to sneak up on me?" he asked, somewhat bewildered his big ears hadn't heard me coming. I smiled. "Oh, when I want to be, I can be, as they say, 'quiet as a mouse.' Ask my friends sometime, they'll tell you I'm good at staying silent."
"Ah, yes, very funny, use the mouse cliché," Reep retorted, though a smile did grace his features. "I don't know of many animals capable of catching me off guard, let alone you loud, clumsy humans." I snickered at the tease. "It comes in handy to be silent, just a talent I've learned over the years." "That it does."
We both headed up onto the main deck, and I glanced up at the deep reds and blues streaking the sky. "Something I've been curious about," I heard Reepicheep begin next to me. "You said you have unrestricted passage between you world and ours? How does that work?" I raised an eyebrow as I glanced down at him. "You're quite the curious one aren't you?" He shrugged. "Yes, well, I like to know how things work. It's not really important, but it's been nagging at me for a while, so I felt I had to ask." I laughed. "Well, it's nothing spectacular. Just a portal, or if you like, a gateway between worlds. It just has open ends at my house and Hiccup's island, and it's never closed on us in the past year it's been there."
"Interesting," the mouse mused. "Certainly not what one would call 'normal,' now, is it?" I smirked and couldn't help but reply. "Well, anywhere but here, a talking mouse isn't normal either." "Neither is a boy who can speak to fire breathing, winged reptiles." There was silence for a moment. "Touché," I finally replied.
As the sun rose in the morning, it found us already moving out to sea, the ship making its way west, and slightly to the south. Within a mere two hours, we were no longer within easy sight of land (unless you had dragon eyes, of course). I moseyed around the ship, not much to do since we had a favorable wind and current. Eventually I ran into Hiccup again.
"Ever actually been on a ship like this?" I asked. He shook his head, looking a little pale. "Not while conscious anyway," he replied. "To be honest I'm kind of surprised I'm not getting seriously seasick, though I do feel a little off." I glanced at him, the edges of my mouth curling into a grin. "A Viking, seasick? Oh, what would your father say?" "To grow a spine and deal with it," Hiccup retorted, mimicking his father's deep voice. We both chuckled and meandered to the side of the ship.
"Looks deep," Hiccup commented. I nodded and was about to reply, before something caught my eye ahead of the vessel. There was something floating in the water about a hundred yard ahead, but with the waves I couldn't quite make it out. "Hiccup, look, there's something out there," I said, pointing in the direction of whatever it was. Hiccup squinted. "There's more than one, whatever they are, but I can't make them out," he replied. I sighed and strengthened my vision, peering closer. With those kinds of eyes, I could make out every detail at a hundred yards out.
"Oh my god," I exclaimed. Hiccup looked at me confusedly. "What is it? Something dangerous?" I shook my head, replying, "No, they're people!" I spun around immediately and ran toward the helm, where Caspian was talking to the captain.
"Caspian! There's someone in the water!" I yelled. He turned to me, growing concerned. "What happened? Someone fall overboard?" he asked. I shook my head and pointed past the prow of the ship. "No, up ahead, there's at least a few. I don't know how they got there, but they're treading water." Caspian nodded and jumped down to the deck, bypassing the stairs. I followed.
"Men! Prepare the rescue platforms!" he ordered, waving some of the crew on deck over to the side of the ship. I looked back toward the people in the water, and made a split second decision. "I'm going in!" I yelled, and ran to the front of the boat.
"Hawken, wait!" Caspian yelled, afraid I was doing something stupid, but Astrid stopped him from coming after me. "He's alright, he knows what he's doing," she said, before nodding to me. I stepped up on the railing of the ship, and leapt over the side, diving into the water. As I hit the water, my eyes morphed to Seashade, and fins grew along my limbs so I could swim faster. Lifting my head up, I powered toward the castaways struggling in the water ahead, diving just under the surface to streamline myself. Within only a few seconds, I reached the nearest swimmer, and, removing my fins so as not to scare anyone, I popped to the surface right in front of….
Edmund?! I snorted and smiled, shaking my head slightly. Big surprise that our mystery castaways would be them. I swam up to him. "Hey, it's alright! We're here to help you," I reassured, helping him keep his head out of the water. Edmund looked at me with a strange expression.
"Who are you?" he asked warily. I smiled again. "I'm a friend. You're in Narnia." His eyes widened in realization, and he glanced behind me. I turned to see Caspian and the crew jumping off the ship toward us. "Uh, out of curiosity, who's the king right now?" he asked. "Right now? Caspian," I replied. "You do know him, right?" He nodded slowly.
Caspian reached us first and headed for one of the girls nearby. When she spotted him, she spluttered, "Caspian?" "Lucy!" Caspian replied in surprise. "Are you all here?"
We looked around at the other castaways, and, save for one boy, I recognized all four of the Pevensies in the water: Susan, Peter, Edmund, and Lucy. But that's not how the story played out, I thought in confusion. It should only be the younger two, and…..
Suddenly it clicked, and I realized who the flailing, screaming one was. I sighed and turned to Edmund. "Let's get you on board the ship and dried off, shall we?" I offered. We swam over to the ship, and I helped him up onto the platform that was waiting, hanging over the side of the ship. As soon as I was on too, we were raised up to the main deck, where Hiccup and Astrid were waiting with towels. Hiccup handed both of us one each.
"And who are you?" Edmund asked, looking at the young Viking. "You're certainly not Narnian. Are you Telmarine?" Hiccup glanced at me, unsure of what to say. "He's a Pevensie, he doesn't know about us yet." Hiccup nodded. "Oh, okay." Turning to Edmund, he introduced himself. "Well, I'm, uh, Hiccup, and I'm a Viking. We're visiting from lands past the eastern side of Narnia."
At this point the crew was starting to help up the other castaways, so I stepped back as Edmund ran over to find his siblings, and went down below to grab the other Vikings who hadn't yet heard the commotion. Naturally, the dragons also heard us and followed up behind. Toothless hung over my shoulder when we reached the deck, while Stormfly crawled up onto the mast above.
The Pevensies did not miss the sudden new onlookers they had, and gasped when they spotted the dragon sitting on the mast. Caspian raised a hand of comfort to them. "Calm down," he assured, "They're friends. The dragons are here with the Vikings I told you about."
"But we never encountered dragons that were friendly before," Peter mused. "They're also not from around Narnia, either," Caspian returned.
A sudden squealing yell caused everyone to turn their attention to the side of the boat again, where Reepicheep had just succeeded in reviving the fifth castaway, who had passed out after his fit in the water earlier.
"Get it off me!" Eustace screeched, throwing the oversize mouse in our direction. Reepicheep groaned in irritation and stood up, wiping water off his fur. "Reepicheep!" Lucy exclaimed, lighting up in recognition. Reep glanced up at her, and smiled in recognition as well. "Oh, your majesty!" he said, bowing. "It's been a while here, since you last left." "It's been a while where we came from too," Susan commented. As they spoke I turned my attention again to watch the Pevensies' cousin, Eustace.
"Where is it?!" he snapped, sitting up and looking around. "Where is what?" Hiccup asked back, seeing my smirk growing and playing along. "The-that rat that was just here!" Eustace yelled. "Oh, there's no rats on this ship," I returned. Eustace looked at me incredulously. "It was just on me! Don't say there isn't one, it was just crawling on me moments ago!"
::Rather annoying one, isn't he?:: Toothless mumbled quietly behind me. Eustace, meanwhile, turned and managed to spot Reepicheep speaking to Lucy. "There!" he yelled again, pointing. "There! That giant rat just tried to claw my face off!"
Reepicheep just sighed and shook his head, turning to Eustace. "I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs so you wouldn't drown, sir," he retorted. Eustace froze immediately, not believing his ears. "Di-did you just hear that?!" he squeaked, looking between Hiccup and I, and his cousins. "It just talked!"
"He always talks," Astrid replied, appearing next to Hiccup. "Yeah, it's getting him to shut up is the real trick," Caspian teased. Everyone laughed as Reep gave Caspian a sidelong frown. "The moment there is nothing to be said, your majesty, I promise you I will not say it," he grumbled.
"Well, I don't know what kind of sick trick this is," Eustace growled, standing up finally and heading toward his cousins, "but I want to wake up from this dream right now!" As he rambled to his cousins, Reepicheep looked up at Caspian. "Perhaps we can throw him back?" he asked almost jokingly. I glanced up to see Edmund's mouth curling into a smile at the thought, before Lucy elbowed him in the ribs. "Edmund!"
Meanwhile, Eustace was starting to rant toward the rest of the passengers of the ship. "-practically drowning in the ocean all of a sudden, then dragged onto this blasted boat. I demand to know just where I…." his words died on his tongue as he turned, spotting the large black reptile currently lying about lazily on the deck behind me. "W-what is that?" he said cautiously, pointing at Toothless. I glanced back nonchalantly. "Oh, that? Well, that just happens to be our friend Toothless," I drawled. "He's a dragon, in case you didn't recognize him." Eustace slowly stumbled backward a step. "Where….in the blazes…am I?" he stammered.
Up above us, Stormfly lowered her head down next to the boy, flashing a golden, toothy smile. "You're on the ship Dawn Treader, off the shores of a land here known as Narnia," she said matter-of-factly.
That was finally too much for poor Eustace. Watching a dragon tell him where he was finally tripped the wire, and Eustace slumped to the deck, passed out cold. The Vikings and I along with much of the crew burst out laughing at the reaction, as the Pevensies rushed forward to make sure their cousin was okay. Lucy looked up at Stormfly curiously though, once they were sure he was still breathing. "Since when do dragons talk?" she asked curiously.
"All dragons can talk," I said. "Stormfly's just the only one around here who happens to speak what you and I would know as English." Lucy and Susan both looked over at me, and the latter of the two asked, "And who, pray tell, are you? You remind me of those Americans I met not long ago."
I glanced at Hiccup, who shrugged in response, and sighed. "Well, I am American," I said, "though I'm from a different time, and probably another parallel world. I'm here with the Vikings on this trip." "What time?" Lucy asked. "The 21st century, or at least the earlier part of it." Edmund grinned. "Oh, that'll annoy Eustace to no end when he wakes up." "Edmund!" Susan quipped, glaring at her brother.
"Well, anyway, if we're done with all of that," Caspian interjected, motioning to the four, "Everyone, I would like you to meet our castaways, the former rulers of Narnia: kings Edmund and Peter, and queens Lucy and Susan, of a time over two hundred years ago!"
As the crew bowed, Hiccup leaned toward me and whispered, "They were royalty a couple hundred years ago?" I nodded. " Yeah, though the books and movies said over 1300 years. That's a big difference, though it still suggests time moves differently for our worlds and theirs. If everything else is correct, they helped Caspian win a war only 3 years ago as well, though." I glanced back at the four. "But, they look a lot older than I was expecting them too. Something else is certainly a little different." Hiccup nodded in reply, and we waited until he crew was finished paying their respects to their former rulers before we headed back below deck.
A day later found me above deck again, looking out over the ocean and watching what appeared to be a pod of dolphins jumping in the distance. I smiled, thinking about the whales that occasionally showed up around Berk, how they never seemed nervous at all about having a dragon watching them. Probably because dragons don't eat whales, but still.
"So you can talk to dragons, huh?" I smiled, and turned to face Edmund, who had wandered up next to me at by the railing. "Who told you?" I asked knowingly. He shrugged and sat down on a crate. "Reepicheep. I asked him if he knew what you meant by all the dragons talking. Sorry about not coming to you directly about it, but it felt awkward." I nodded and looked off in the other direction, where Reep was hanging off the rigging of the ship. "He is a talkative soul, isn't he?" I noted. Edmund laughed. "You should have seen him a couple years ago," he said. "I did, in a manner of speaking," I replied.
Edmund turned to face me again, raising an eyebrow. "What, were you there or something?" he asked. " I don't exactly remember you in the battle or anything." I shook my head. "No, nothing like that. We're all from different worlds, remember?" I reminded him. "A good deal of things I've seen so far on this earth are but simple stories in mine, including the books of your history. The most accurate renditions tend to be movie versions however, though there are plenty of differences as well." I looked at him. "You're a lot older than the version I know, for example."
"Interesting world you live in then," Lucy said, appearing from below deck and coming to stand next to Edmund. "Your Viking friends at least come from the same planet as Caspian and the others, yet you come from somewhere else entirely." I shrugged in reply. "Your point being?"
Lucy shrugged this time. "Well, out of everyone here, you're the most mysterious and unknown to us," she explained softly. I smiled. "Well, I can assure you I at least don't pose a threat to anyone here. Or, at least not unless they give me a real good reason."
Suddenly from the hatch leading to the rooms below came a loud, harsh voice. "-you thought she was doing! If you touch Thorn again, with a weapon of any sort or otherwise, I'll smack you with this from one end of the ship to the other, then tie you off the end of the prow like shark bait!"
The hatch slammed open, and Eustace backed out, tripping over himself as he tried to move away from Astrid, who was holding her axe up to his throat. I sighed. "What happened?" I asked, standing up and crossing my arms. Astrid glanced over at me, before glaring at Eustace again. "The runt here woke up in the empty cargo bay where they were keeping him, to see Thorn standing on the other side of the room. He threw one of Cami's knives at her for no reason!" she snapped.
"Eustace, did you really do that?" Lucy asked warningly. Eustace tried to talk, but nothing but a squeak came out. He swallowed and tried again. "W-well, I, uh, I didn't know what it was doing! The thing was staring at me like I was its next meal!" I snorted and leaned against the mast. "Oh, please. Dragons don't eat people," I rebuffed. "Most won't even try to harm you unless you do so first." Eustace turned to look at me, though still keeping a very wary eye on Astrid. "Are you out of your mind?!" he snapped. "They're fire-breathing, flying, demonic monsters! I mean, have you even seen that spiky one down there?" I grimaced in irritation.
"Thorn happens to be a personal friend of mine," I shot back. "Believe it or not, they have a level of intelligence very near to if not equal to our own, they understand what you say, and I, personally, will not stand anyone who attempts to harm them on the grounds of horribly inaccurate, biased, airheaded information!"
Edmund craned his head around to look at me weirdly. "Uh, H-Hawken, right? Are your eyes supposed to be red like that?" I blinked in surprise and heard Astrid snicker. We were used to it, so I hadn't had anyone comment on it for a while. "Uh, yeah," I said sheepishly. "They-they change color according to, uh, my mood." Edmund shook his head. "Never seen anyone's eyes go red," he noted. "And now they're blue."
I sighed and focused back on Eustace. "Who are you?" he asked. "A friend of the Vikings and the dragons. A boy from another world, a secret holder, a sword fighter, you name it, I probably am it," I replied, smiling mischievously. Eustace cocked an eyebrow. "Great, another nut-ball just like my cousins," he muttered. I saw Edmund bristle. "Oh, come on! You're standing on Narnian boat for pete's sake!" he snapped. "There are dragons on this ship, and a talking mouse! Just how much more proof do you really need?" Eustace just glared at him.
"And whoever said I wanted to be on this boat?" he hissed. "We can always throw you back," Reepicheep called from where he hung from the rigging nearby. Eustace's eyes widened a bit. "There must be some way to get back!" he whined. "As soon as we find land I'm contacting a British consul, and having all of you arrested for kidnapping!"
"Good luck with that," I muttered, just loud enough for Astrid to hear me. " I thought the crew here saved your life," she retorted. "You held me against my will!" Eustace shot back. Reepicheep glanced down at Edmund. "He's quite the complainer, isn't he?" the mouse asked. Edmund sighed, and began to speak.
"He's just getting warmed up."
"He's just getting warmed up."
We said it at the same time. Lucy and Edmund looked at me in surprise. "How did you know I was going to say that?" Edmund queried. I smirked. "You're a story in my world, remember?"
Eustace glanced in confusion between us. "What in the world is wrong with all you people?" he asked incredulously. In response, I drawled, "Anybody got a piece of duct tape?"
The ship continued on its way, heading southwest toward a small chain of nearby islands, according to Caspian. I managed to catch some conversation between him and Peter, about the disappearance of some of Caspian's allies, as they talked in the navigation room. I nodded as I headed past. "So there are a few more parallels," I muttered, strolling off to find Hiccup.
"Big surprise to find you in here," I joked as I walked into the dragon's room (and apparently emergency sick bay, since it was where they'd kept Eustace, though I had my suspicions it was just set up by Edmund wanting to scare his cousin again). Hiccup was lying up against Toothless, looking somewhat solemn. "Something wrong?" I asked as I sat down next to him. He smiled slightly and looked over at me. "No, not really, just thinking," he said. "I've got this odd feeling this trip is a bit bigger than we think." I nodded. "It probably is, admittedly. The story I know of seems to be unfolding. Sure, most of it shouldn't be a problem, but it ended with a bit of a bang in the movie. If it's more like that than the book, we could have a lot to deal with."
::Should we leave?:: Toothless asked, raising his head and looking at me with a concerned expression. I shook my head. "Naw, we'll be able to handle it, I'm sure," I assured. "Plus, something tells me we should stick around anyway. They may need help, and I feel like there's something we're supposed to find. In any case though, if I'm correct, we're in good company." I glanced toward the exit. "One warning I feel like I should tell you now: ignore your strongest temptations. In this place, they can kill." Hiccup looked at me with a questioning glance, but I didn't say anything else past that.
A/N-So one of the first big differences from the original movie. Yes, we get to deal with all four of the Pevensies, and Eustace is no less of a pain than he was in the movie, so be prepared for a lot of incidents with him.
Apologies, as this will be the only chapter this weekend, but hopefully I might have an extra Book of Dragons entry later this week. But hold tight! The first major piece of action will be upon us shortly, so stay tuned, leave a review or two, and let me know what you think!