Chapter 5✨

Trumpkin started to fill everyone in. From Prince Caspian blowing Susan's horn that brought them to Narnia, to his capture by the Telmarines, and Caspian's plan to rally the remaining Narnians into removing the Telmarines from power, and vowing to restore the Narnians their freedom. There were many instances where Raina was lost, so she had to be filled in.

The power that Raina summoned both times drew a great deal of energy, which started to affect her again. As everyone was discussing the plan of action, she began swaying on her feet.

'I need a moment, please excuse me.' She said, before taking off towards the water.

She sat down too fast for her liking, and twisted her ankle. She almost yelped in pain, but didn't want anyone to worry. She just winced and let out a small, muffled scream. She didn't realise that Edmund had followed her to make sure she was alright, and noticed her little accident.

'What'd you hurt this time?' He asked, both sarcastically and with concern. Raina looked up, surprised, but relaxed when she saw Edmund.

'Nothing nothing, just taking it all in.' She spoke.

Edmund came and sat down next to her. He eyed her closely, as she maintained eye contact with the ground. Raina was rarely able to look him in the eye. Everyone attributed that to her introvertedness, which was true, if not the sole reason.

'Hey, are you alright?' Edmund asked softly.

She finally looked up, and met his gaze. She sighed.

'I don't know. In the last hour, I entered a new world, where my friends are kings and queens, found out I'm some all powerful being, and I even used power that I never knew I had on two soldiers, who were trying to drown a dwarf. I even killed one of them. 'Too much' is a gross understatement for this.' Raina replied, doubt and fear in her voice. She killed another human, and the gravity of it began to set in. Edmund noticed and he took her hands and stood her up.

'Ow.' She winced as she put force on her twisted ankle.

'I knew it, let me see that.' Edmund spoke, gesturing to her ankle.

'You don't have to do that, Ed..' Raina said, sadly.

'What do you mean?' He asked, confused and a little sad.

Raina wanted to rant about how she was hurt when the Pevensies stopped talking to her, how they pretty much forgot about her after they were sent away during the war. The hurt and the frustration of it all began bubbling to the surface, as she tried to steady her breathing. The pain in her ankle began to lessen, and she straightened herself before looking at Edmund again.

'You know what? It's alright, it doesn't hurt that bad. Come on, we should go.' She tried to say confidently, but doubt was in her voice, and she wondered if he noticed. He did, but he didn't have time to question it.

'Raina! Ed!' Peter called out.

'Come on.' Raina spoke, as she walked back to the group, wincing. Edmund reached for her but she moved away, her lips pursed together as she tried to deal with the pain on her ankle.

'We need to find Caspian. Do you know where he is?' Peter asked Trumpkin, who grunted.

'Follow me.' He said, as he took off. The five teenagers followed, Peter in the front, Lucy and Susan in the middle and Raina and Edmund trailing behind.

'Raina, is everything okay?' He asked again.

It was getting harder and harder for Raina not to yell at him, but she looked at him, and gave him a faint smile.

'It's fine, I'm alright. Maybe a little tired but I'm alright.' She spoke. Edmund didn't seem to believe her.

'Well, if you want to talk about it, I'll always be here.' He said, a faint pink dusting on his cheeks was getting visible, but Raina didn't notice, because she was busy fuming.

'Thanks.' Was all she said, her teeth gritted.

*******The 6 of them sat on the boat, as Peter rowed. Raina was able to take in the Narnian landscape, which was very beautiful. The only sour thing was the fact that she was seated next to Edmund, and exceptionally close at that.

'They're so still.' Lucy spoke, looking up at the trees.

'They're trees, what do you expect?' Trumpkin asked, gruffly. Raina silently agreed.

'They used to dance.' Lucy replied, ruefully. Raina's eyes widened. Well, it's Narnia, so dancing trees isn't the wildest thing anyway.

'Wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines invaded.' Trumpkin continued.

'What happened to the Narnians?' Raina asked, cautiously.

'The remaining Narnians retreated into the woods. And the trees? They retreated so deep into themselves that, they haven't been heard from since.' Trumpkin replied.

Lucy looked really upset.

'I don't understand. How could Aslan let this happen?' She asked.

'Aslan?' Trumpkin asked in disbelief. 'Thought he abandoned us when you lot did.'

'Who's Aslan?' Raina asked.

'He's basically the ruler of Narnia, because he created it.' Susan clarified. Raina nodded.

'Is he human? Or?' She asked again, cautiously.

'He's a lion. He is commonly known as 'The Great Lion.' Edmund told her. Her eyes widened, and she nodded soon after.

'I'm sure they didn't mean to leave...' Raina piped up, trying to sound reassuring.

'We didn't.' said Peter.

'Makes no difference now does it?' Trumpkin asked, sadly.

'Take us to the Narnians.' Peter began. 'And it will.'

Peter kept rowing until they reached another beach. This was rockier than the one they were on previously. As the boat reached land, Raina almost immediately jumped up and got off. Being close to Edmund was not something she wanted at all, physical or emotional. Lucy got off and walked around, as the rest of them pulled the boat onto land and anchor it.

Lucy found a bear in the distance. Assuming it to be a Narnian, she called out to it.

'Hello there!'

Everyone looked up to see Lucy walking closer to the bear, which now stood on its hind legs.

'Lucy, is that safe?' Raina asked, warily keeping an eye on the bear.

'It is!' Lucy said before turning back to the bear.

'It's alright! We're friends!' She spoke to the bear, cheerfully.

Raina's hand immediately went to her sword, as she walked up to Lucy closely. Trumpkin suddenly stopped and yelled.

'Don't move your majesty!'

The bear now got on all fours and ran at Lucy, who was looking back at Trumpkin, confused. Once she turned around and saw the bear, she started running.

'Stay away from her!' Susan ordered, her bow and arrow and the ready.

The bear didn't stop. Edmund and Peter grabbed their swords from the boat and began to run. Lucy just tripped and fell to the ground.

'SHOOT SUSAN SHOOT!' Edmund yelled as he ran to Lucy.

Raina was close enough, she grabbed Lucy, and ran away, just as the bear tried to jump on them, claws out. Raina felt that energy surge through her again, as she channelled it. Her eyes flashed blue and her palms glowed with the same blue light, as she put them forward in a defensive stance. For a moment, the bear actually calmed down and looked at her with fear, perhaps? Right at that moment, an arrow sailed through the air, and stabbed itself in the bear's chest, Lucy screamed. The bear let out a bowl before collapsing on the ground. The glow left Raina's eyes and palms, as she again felt lightheaded, but she turned to Lucy, straining.

'Are you alright, Lu?' Raina asked, trying to keep her voice level, and also ignore the pounding in her head.

'Ye-Yeah.' She replied, her voice quivering. 'Raina, are you okay, y-you look like you're going to be sick..' Lucy stuttered out. Raina didn't know how to answer.

'Why wouldn't he stop?' Susan asked.

'I suspect he was hungry.' Trumpkin replied, walking closer to the bear.

Everyone quickly walked upto Lucy, checking to make sure she was uninjured. Once they were sure she was fine, they began fussing over Raina.

'Are you alright?' Peter asked, worry evident in his voice.'

'Yes, I'm fine.' She responded, before Edmund engulfed her in a tight hug. Her eyes widened, as she caught Peter, Susan and Lucy, trying not to laugh at the two 15 year olds. She finally hugged him back, and pulled away.

'That was really reckless Raina.' Edmund told her, almost reprimanding her. Even though she was exhausted and possibly a little ill, she just rolled her eyes at him.

'I'm fine, Ed.' Was all she said.

'Lady Raina, your nose is bleeding.' Trumpkin said, worriedly.

Raina's eyes widened as she brought her hand to her nostril, and found drops of blood. She groaned.

'Oh my god, Raina are you okay?!' Peter asked, worriedly.

'I-I'm fine, I used to get these when I'm really anxious or something.' Raina replied. The blood flow was worse than what she was used to before.

'I'll just clean this up, excuse me.' She said, hurriedly, as she took off. She tried to find something to wipe it off with, but couldn't find anything. She ended up trying to wipe it off on her gown, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

'Here.'

It was Edmund, as he held out a small handkerchief to her. She eyed it for a moment before taking it.

'Thanks.' She said, when she noticed his features contorted in fear.

'Hey, you remember how I used to get these earlier, it's not a big deal.' She reassured him.

'You stopped getting them when you were 11. This would be the first one you've had in over 4 years.' Edmund replied. To say Raina was shocked, was an understatement.

'How do you know that?'

'You told me.'

******The 6 of them walked for hours. Any sign of Caspian or Narnians was slim.

'I don't remember this way.' Susan spoke, looking around, unsure.

'That's the problem with girls, you can't carry a map in your heads.' Peter spoke, feeling cocky.

'That's because our heads have something in them.' Lucy retorted, with a smirk.

Raina snorted loudly, and the rest of them, except Peter laughed, who sent a glare her way.

'I wish he'd just listen to the DLF in the first place.' Susan said to Lucy.

'DLF?' Raina and Edmund asked in unison.

'Dear Little Friend.' Lucy said, with a smile.

Edmund and Raina turned back to look at Trumpkin, who had a grumpy face on.

'Oh, that's not at all patronising, is it?' He asked.

Raina noticed Edmund was on edge after their little tiff, so to speak. She didn't like seeing him that way. So, she decided to push her anger aside.

'What was Narnia like when you guys were rulers?' She asked, curiously.

Edmund looked up, subtle surprise flashing on his features, before he smirked.

'Well, it was called the Golden Age. We lived here for 15 years before we came back.' He said, as Raina took it in.

'Wow, you grew up to be adults here, and then found yourselves as kids again? How did you deal with that?' She asked.

Edmund merely shrugged.

'It's definitely a little hard sometimes, but we know how to deal with it, well, most of us at least.' He spoke, giving Peter the side-eye.

'I have to ask, did any of you guys...you know..' Raina spoke, with a smirk, pointing to her ring finger. Lucy, Peter and Susan snorted. Edmund looked at her strangely.

'Hey, it's a legitimate question, okay? You spent fifteen years here.' Raina defended.

'Asking for a friend, are we?' Edmund looked at her with a smirk. Raina looked unamused.

'Wouldn't you like to know?' She said, and pranced ahead of him to join Lucy and Susan.

'Alright, are youse done flirting?' Susan asked, trying to be serious, hiding her smirk. Raina glared at her, while Edmund tried to look anywhere else but at Raina.

'But to answer your question Raina, no we didn't get married. Though, Edmund here had a bunch of suitors. To this day I don't understand how.' Peter said, dripping with sarcasm.

Raina's eyes widened as she looked to Edmund. He had a very infuriating smirk on his face.

'I don't buy it. Did those girls have brain damage or something?' Raina spoke, sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him. She looked to the other three Pevensies who laughed heartily.

'Hey! I had a new suitor almost every week!' Edmund exclaimed.

'Really?' Raina asked, her eyebrows raised. By now, Peter and Susan walked ahead and Lucy hung back.

'He did.' She said simply. Raina imagined tons of girls lining up at Cair Paravel for Edmund. She only scoffed.

'Nope. I don't buy it.' Raina maintained.

'So you see, I did have-' Edmund began smugly, when Lucy cut him off.

'It wasn't just humans though, we're talking fauns, centaurs, witches and what not.' Lucy stated matter-of-factly, and that's when Raina cracked up.

'What the hell, Lu?!' Edmund asked, annoyed.

'I wish I was here to see that. Edmund, let me know how your date with a faun goes. I'd love to hear all about it.' Raina spoke between giggles.

Edmund began grumbling to himself, and Raina was thoroughly entertained, her anger from before settling.

Peter walked ahead and he stopped at a clearing.

'I'm not lost.' He said to no one in particular. Trumpkin walked up to him, as he stood on a rock.

'No. You're just going the wrong way.'

Peter turned around, anger flashed his features slightly.

'You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods? The quickest way there is to cross at the river rush.' He said, his voice had an attitude to it.

Trumpkin's face had frustration written all over it as he attempted to control himself.

'And unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these woods.' He spoke lowly.

'That explains it then. You're mistaken.' Peter spoke, his teeth gritted.

'Ouch.' Raina mumbled to herself. She knew Peter had an ego, but didn't expect it to come out the way it did. Clearly having to adjust to childhood after growing up in Narnia was hard on him.

They finally reached the 'river rush' which was now a gorge, deep enough for someone to not stand too close to the edge. Raina hung back, as she was afraid of heights. Peter looked down, as Susan watched from behind him.

'You see, over time water erodes the earth's soil-' Susan began when Peter cut her off.

'Oh shut up.' He said, frustrated.

'Is there a way down?' Edmund asked, looking at Trumpkin.

'Yeah, falling.'

Raina tried not to laugh.

'Well, we weren't lost.' Peter maintained. Susan rolled her eyes.

'There's a ford near Beruna.' Trumpkin began. 'How do you feel about swimming?'

'I'd rather that than walking.' Susan spoke, before walking back with the rest. Suddenly, Lucy perked up.

'Aslan? It's Aslan!' She exclaimed, pointing to the other cliff. Everyone turned around to see where she was pointing.

'It's Aslan over there! Don't you see? It's right-' Lucy trailed off, noticing no one was there.

'...there.' She ended, unsure.

'Do you see him now?' Trumpkin asked, a little annoyed.

Lucy turned around, a serious look on her face.

'I'm not crazy. He was there. He wanted us to follow him.' She spoke, looking at everyone before stopping on Peter.

'I'm sure there are any number of lions in this wood. Just like that bear.' He said

'I think I know Aslan when I see him.' Lucy maintained.

'Look, I'm not about to jump off a cliff, after someone who doesn't exist.' Trumpkin spoke, annoyed.

Edmund spoke up next.

'The last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid.' He said, giving his sister a small smile. Raina couldn't help but smile too, as she recalls how much he would make fun of Lucy back in the day. Guess he really has changed.

'Guys, I think we should check it out.' Raina suddenly spoke.

Peter looked back at the cliff, and then to Lucy.

'Why didn't I see him?' He asked, simply.

Lucy tried to think of an answer.

'Maybe you weren't looking.' She said, ruefully.

'I'm sorry, Lu.' Was all he said, before walking away with Susan and Trumpkin. Lucy looked back at the cliff, sadly.

'Come on, Lu. We should go.' Raina said, softly, before putting an arm around Lucy and walking away, Edmund trailing behind.

to everyone reading, i humbly ask you to vote on the chapters as it would really help my fanfic.