the strangest voyage; casmund

five.

Caspian raised an eyebrow.

Edmund untangled their hands, and he placed his on Caspian's face, cupping his cheeks. Caspian gasped at how cold his hands were.

Still holding eye contact, Edmund put his forehead to Caspian's -- their breathing mixed. Caspian's breathing was shorter than it should've been, but Edmund didn't think about it.

"I want to show you something," Caspian said, breaking the silence that had captured them. "You'll love it -- I promise."

Edmund nodded. Though they knew they should move, they both stayed where they were. The only thing they could hear in the night were: the waves, the seagulls, their heavy breathing.

Although it was slow and hesitant, Caspian pulled back. Edmund almost whined at the loss of warmth, until Caspian intertwined his hand with Edmund's and dragged him to the front of the ship.

Caspian sat down, pulling Edmund with him, who chuckled at his energy.

"Lay down," Caspian said softly, "and look up at the sky."

Edmund did as he said, and gasped. The sky was filled with stars -- constellations, the moon.

"It looks so... heavenly."

"When you guys weren't here," Caspain said, glancing at Edmund every now and then. "I would always look at the stars at night because they were always so clear."

Edmund smiled.

They laid there for hours, pointing out constellations and talking about them. Soon, it got too late for them -- since they started to feel sleepy.

They went back to their rooms and both fell asleep... oblivious in so many ways.

•••

It was too early in the morning when the Captain woke everyone up with his yelling. They were about to port; Edmund and Lucy had to get ready, then they had to wake up Eustace.

Edmund and Lucy were the first to get up and out of bed, even though they were just as tired as the others, and got ready -- Eustace took longer, since he was still half asleep.

Leaving his room after getting ready, Edmund walked over to the side of the ship, and leaned on it, looking out at the sea.

Caspian walked over and stood beside him. He looked out at the sea as well when he said, "I liked hanging out with you last night. We should do it more often."

Edmund smiled. "Yeah, we should."

Caspian looked like he was about to say something else, but Eustace walked onto the deck complaining -- the one thing he really loved.

"I don't see why I have to come! I'll be useless," Eustace was saying in his usual shrill and annoying voice.

Lucy chuckled. "Well, we're not leaving you here with the crew to come back and see that they've thrown you overboard because you kept complaining."

Everyone laughed whilst Eustace pouted with his arms crossed.

Suddenly, Caspian grew serious.

"We all ready?" He asked. All the crew nodded. "If we're not back by the evening, send a search party." Caspian made a signal for them to follow him.

Edmund, Lucy, Eustace and Caspian walked into town. It was empty and extremely quiet -- practically silent, like a ghost town. The only thing the quartet could hear was the rustle of leaves from trees that were nowhere in sight, and their footsteps, no matter whether they tried to be stealthy or not.

Eustace stopped by a window, then came running towards the others, saying, "Yeah, so it looks like nobody's in. Do you reckon we could head back?"

Edmund chuckled, before looking at Caspian. "Should we give him a weapon?"

Caspian nodded. He placed his crossbow in one hand and took out a dagger, then handed it to Eustace.

Eustace looked shocked as he held it, as if he didn't know what to do with it, then he nearly dropped it when he started walking.

Caspian turned to Edmund, smirking. "Are you sure he's related by blood?"

Edmund snorted, shrugging.

"We're pretty sure," Lucy said, getting Caspian's attention away from Edmund.

The quartet continued walking and found a pair of doors. Everyone stepped back when Edmund kicked them open -- dust fell everywhere, making them all cough.

Lucy turned to Eustace. "Why don't you stay out here and tell us if someone is coming? You've got a weapon, so you should be fine."

He nodded, and stayed where he was. They all went inside and found a pedestal, with an old book on the top, in the middle of the old, cob-webbed room.

The strange feeling returned to Edmund. He looked around the room cautiously, but found nothing to be suspicious of -- yet the feeling didn't go away.

Caspian opened the book, and there was a list of names on all of the pages.

"Names?" Edmund asked rhetorically.

"And money," Lucy pointed out.

Caspian scowled. "Slave traders."

As soon as he said that, people came flying down from ropes, holding weapons. They yelled as if they hadn't already caught the trio's attention.

Edmund drew his blade and tried to step in front of Lucy, to protect her. They were in the middle of a battle when a girlish scream was heard.

Everyone turned towards the sound.

Someone was holding a knife to Eustace's throat. His lip was trembling, and he looked on the verge of tears.

"Drops your weapons," the man commanded, "or soon he won't have any vocal cords to scream with."

They drop their swords -- the men swarmed around them, ready to chain them all up.

Edmund was the first to be tied down, since he stepped in front of his sister to protect her, and Lucy also got caught. They couldn't get free.

Caspian, however, did.

Edmund glanced up, hope breaking through the scared expression on his face. "Caspain, get to the others and ask for help!" Edmund yelled. "There's only one of you and many of these men!"

Caspian looked at him, horrified by the thought, but fighting off the men became too hard, so he nodded and ran for help.

The people chased after him, but, otherwise, Edmund didn't know what else happened.

All he remembered was Lucy screaming his name, and worrying about whether Caspian had managed to find help or not...