A/n: I've got a challenge of my own, y'all.

I make a few references to modern-day literature, TV shows, even a fanfic author famous for his crackfics. Some references are obvious, and some are known only to a few. One reference, however, is particularly noteworthy to those who read 21st-century fantasy novels. What's the reference? Give me the novel and the author, and I'll give you a shoutout.

Prompt #3: Did anyone ever try to climb the mountain to Aslan's country that Jill stood on in The Silver Chair? Where is its base? How would one reach it? (It is not required that you answer all the questions; just use them as a starting point.)

† West †

10 May 529, 7:59am

"Look alive, you all!" said the maneless lion standing proudly on the deck of the ship. "We shall leave this place and follow the tide out of the bay, and we will let the wind carry us into the waters of the Deep West. Beyond that is our destiny: the mountain that lies before us, that looms over the waters and disappears into the clouds. There is our home. There is our King. And no storm nor island nor foreign land shall deter us from our goal. We are on a mission, O high and lofty followers of the Emperor-Yonder, and that mission is to meet our King! We will climb his mountain, enter his country, and present ourselves as the jewels of his crown. And those sorry wretches who've scoffed at us, and the sparkle-maned buffoon they follow, will bitterly regret their choice. So let us carry on into the Deep West, to seek out the King and his home!"

"Well, fancy that," said the wolf; "I thought we were boldly going where no one has gone befo...OOMFF!" A tiger elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a snarl, and the wolf went all proper and prim again.

"Do shut up, you two," said a centaur. "This is our destiny, and Rajani is worthy to be our captain, so let's not disgrace him with our foolishness. Or our King, either."

"Indeed," said Rajani. "I haven't gotten you fools this far just to watch you muff it all up." With that, the maneless lion swung about and laid his paws on the captain's wheel, and he threw back his head and roared, "ONWARD, TO THE KING!"

"TO THE KING!" said the mass of men and beasts, and the salty breezy air erupted with cheers as the anchor was lifted and the ship fell into the embrace of the tide.

21 August 529, 4:59am

"Three blasted months," said Rajani as he and the rest of the lion's friends stared up at the starlit mountain. "Three months since we left the bay, and the mountain hasn't come any closer."

"It's worse than that, gentlemen," said the tiger as he padded onto the bow. "There is no island nor shore within a thousand leagues of us. We are so far removed from the map that we might as well be sleeping in a sea of stars."

The wolf looked out at the western horizon with an incredulous scoff. "What sort of devilry is this, that we're further from home and no closer to our destination?"

"It is not devilry, you onion," snarled Rajani. "It is geography. We just happen to be sailing toward a very distant hill, and it won't get closer to us until we get closer to it."

"How much closer, Rajani? We're about to run out of provisions, and what we do have left is beginning to rot. We haven't caught a single fish in two weeks, and we have no means of growing anything by week's end. And I don't want to drink that brine we're sailing in, do you?"

"We will make it there; we just need a little more time."

"We don't have time, Captain. If we don't turn around and go back to Narnia now, we will die."

"I accept no such thing," said the lion. "We are embarking on the greatest quest of all: the voyage over the Western Waters to the kingdom of the Emperor-Yonder. We have obeyed his commands to the letter—all 613 of them—and we just need to have faith that he will bring us through in time. If we give up now, we will be cowards and fools, and we will never show our faces amongst our brethren for as long as we live. But when we climb the mountain and we return to Narnia, we won't just be the talk of Aslan (the sparkle-maned buffoon who stirs up the rabble of Narnia with his blasphemous words); we'll be the talk of Kings and Queens and of the world!"

Without warning a voice boomed across the deck of the ship: "You certainly will."

All at once the sailors gasped and flinched and spun around, and the apparition came into view like a sun bursting into existence. A great golden Lion stood upon the deck, lighting up the ship with the soft glow of his mane.

"What the devil is this?" said Rajani. "Who are you?"

"I think you would know me better as a sparkle-maned buffoon," said the Lion, a ripple of amusement in his voice.

"You listen here," said Rajani. "I am the pilot of this vessel and the captain of these men. We are on a mission to reach the mountain, and we will reach it whether you like it or not!"

"No one reaches that mountain without my knowledge or my blessing," said the Lion as he padded across the deck. "If you go on, you will not only condemn yourself but sentence every one of your men to death, and everyone will use your names as a warning to their descendants, of what happens when a man's pride and vanity are allowed to go too far. It is not devilry nor geography that separates you; it is infinity. And if you keep sailing on, you will be no closer than you were when you began, and I will leave it to you to imagine how you'll die out here."

"Empty threats," said the centaur. "The Emperor-Yonder wouldn't send the likes of you to break our laws and overturn our regimes. For all we know, you're in league with the Queen of Charn."

"Hear, hear," said Rajani. "And if nothing else, this cat is certainly an excellent swimmer."

But even in the starlit night, everyone could see that the Lion was perfectly dry, as one who had never been wet. At once, the wolf and tiger turned to each other in alarm over what they heard, then turned to Rajani and the centaur in bafflement.

"I may be an onion, but I'm not blind," said the wolf. "Even if he is a devil, he's not the one who's got you both under a spell."

"Aye," said the tiger. "I may not know what he is, but I know he didn't swim out here. And if you are blind to that, I shouldn't wonder if you're blind to everything else."

Glaring and gnashing his teeth at them, Rajani slammed his paw on the deck and said, "Bind these traitors and throw them overboard!"

"Aye, Sir!" roared the centaurs.

But before you could say "Tag," the lion and tiger and wolf got the same idea in their heads, and they hurtled toward the tip of the bow and leapt off the deck, soaring freely through breezy sky as Rajani roared, "AFTER THEM!" And in a stomach-twisting moment, the flat surface of the water rushed up to meet them, and horizon spun upward and gave way to a mighty SMACK. Lion and tiger and wolf burst through in a fount of bubbles as the surface of the water rose over and away from them. The tiger and wolf jerked away and started to ascend, but the Lion was paddling further into the black, and a deep and thunderous voice rumbled through their minds:

Follow me.

The wolf gave a bubbly start. By Jove, where are we going?

We're in the middle of the deep! said the tiger. We can't keep breathing water!

But the Lion kept paddling, drawing deeper and deeper into the blackness, and his words thundered in their heads once more:

Follow me.

To be continued in a future prompt...