Journey of Trust | A Narnian Story

Chapter 16 | A scaly Adventure I

They decide to spend the night on land. Thanks to Eustace's new abilities, they quickly get a fire going and sit around the warming flames. Most of the crew went back to the ship, only a handful stayed with the six friends. Drinian and Rynelf weren't comfortable to leave the royals without protection, besides Reepicheep and the Crown Shield. They don't trust the dragon yet. However, they will come to as they have to spend a few days on this island. The time is well put to use. While Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Drinian, Reep and Luna try to find a solution for Eustace's situation, the crew works to render the Dawn Treader seaworthy again - the storm left its traces.

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The days go by without events and without a realistic solution. The men grow impatient. Especially Pittencream vents his opinions to everyone who is unfortunate enough to work near him. The others keep mostly quiet about it, only a few annoyed glances towards Eustace now and then. He tried to write in the sand with his front claws; first, what happened to him exactly – even though they can imagine – then, ideas of his own. He's a creative mind but the waves come fast and wash most of his hard-to-read scribbling away before he finishes. The friends' ideas reach from 'building a raft for him' to 'putting him on the deck and move every heavy stored thing on the other side to balance the ship'. As the days go by, Drinian is even grumpier than usual and only shakes his head at the ideas presented to him. His concerns are understandable, our rations are limited and there's only so much to find on a volcanic island like this. However, Eustace proves to be a valuable asset. He starts to help around, lifting heavy objects for the men, taking people on flights over the island, and catches whatever wildlife he spots – mainly wild goats and boars.

One evening they sit together around the fire once again. It's been six days now that they are stuck on the Dragon Island as Caspian named it. He had something carved into a stone near the shore to claim it as Narnia's. The inscription states the island's name which was discovered by Caspian X., the King of Narnia, in the fourth year of his reign and that this is supposed to be Lord Octesian's final resting place. Luna stares into the fire, playing with her hair absentmindedly. In her opinion, their forced stay here isn't all bad. They get to explore the small piece of land, train more – or better, differently than on the ship. She can brush up on her archery and endurance training. Reepicheep and the Crown Shield wander off sometimes like back when they lived in the Owlwood a few days north of Cair Paravel. They used to go adventuring around the forest lands the Telmarines avoided for days, spared together, and met other Narnians. Most of the remaining time the tall mouse spends with Eustace. Those two seem to get along quite well. Just now Reep is telling one of his legendary stories and the dragon lies next to him, resting his head on his front legs, and listens intently. Lucy took up her latest sewing work while listening to Reepicheep as well. It's remarkable how the Queen of Old is a quiet worker, mending all sorts of clothes for everyone on the Dawn Treader, always ready to lend an ear or a smile to someone and helps in the kitchen. No complaints. Then again, she can be a fierce warrior who fought in wars alongside her older brothers. Luna thinks herself lucky when the other female accompanies her to train. She is a skilled archer, and they always enjoy exchanging little tricks. Lucy seems to feel the gaze and looks up. The women smile at each other, and she lifts the hand she holds the needle with a little. Luna shakes her head slightly; she won't join in on her mending work right now. Yes, the queen got the warrior to do more sewing than necessary and taught her more of the skill. There's one thing in particular that Luna adopted: her hand wanders to the collar of her shirt. There, in the hem, a thin needle is hidden without pricking the skin. Lucy keeps one in every one of her outfits, she says you never know when it will come in handy.