The Faded Portrait of a Bygone Era

Keeper of Dreams

Around her were the great Woods, the beauty of Narnia...

She was home.

Awestruck, she slowly sat up. A stray twig was caught in a lock of her long hair, but she didn't care one bit.

Narnia.

The thought of it, just that very wonderful, lovely little notion that she was truly here again very nearly paralyzed her. It felt as though an eternity passed as she rose to her feet, taking everything in.

She felt completely different now. It was as if electricity had washed over her from head to toe. All of that dreadful, dragging weariness that had weighed so harshly on her before was now gone.

Slowly, she stood, and gently touched the bark of the nearest tree. For the first time since she had realized where she was, there was a slight pause to her elation. The tree did not respond. She couldn't sense its soul. Yes, this was Narnia. She knew that without a doubt. And this tree was alive. That much she could sense, as surely as she could feel the magic in the air. These trees had life that those of her home world quite obviously lacked. But they were silent and dim, hidden far within themselves. Not all was right within the world, so it seemed.

Now, the first order of business would be to find her way back to Cair Paravel. Time ran differently here than where she came from... Tumnus and the others at court must be wondering what had happened to her. Had her siblings returned to their world back in their time as well? Or had she been the only one to fall from Narnia?

Margaret shook her head. She had been named Resilient by Aslan, and by His Mane, she would live up to that title.

Carefully, she climbed into the branches of the closest tree and made her way to the top. Back in the old days, she had loved spending time in the forest canopy. The dryads and other tree spirits were thrilled to have her in their arms, and she often whiled the days away with them. Now, she was alone. But still, she resolved to carry on.

From her vantage point, she had a chance to get her bearings. She almost couldn't believe that she was truly back, even as she looked out over the land. This was some sort of forest, but what realm was it in? Over to the East, she could see a river, and a waterfall. Wherever she was, she knew that as long as she headed East, that ought to bring her to the coast eventually. Though she would have to find her own supplies along the way... Figuring out where exactly she was would be first on the list. She would head towards that river first. Further East than that, she knew, Cair Paravel awaited on the shores of the Sea. There, she might finally find some answers. Her people, her family... did they think she had abandoned them? Or had they believed her to be kidnapped, perhaps by a spiteful Calormen, or some remnant of the White Witch's minions?

No time to dwell on that, she told herself. She must get to Cair Paravel, as quickly as she was able. After climbing down from the tree, she made her way to the river she had spotted. Standing there on the shore, she pondered how best to go about crossing. With a quick glance around, she found a small branch, which she tossed into the water to gauge the current's pace. It was a little faster than she would have preferred with how deep it appeared to be, but her focus had firmly fixed on getting home. That outweighed all else in her mind, even caution.

She found another fallen tree limb to serve as a sort of walking stick, to help keep balanced in the water, and with that, she waded in. The crisp river nearly came up to her waist. It was a little chilly, but nowhere near as icy as the melting river she had crossed with Lucy, Susan, and Peter back when they had first come to Narnia. Leaning into the current, she carefully made her way across.