Just try your best
Try everything you can
And don't you worry what they tell themselves
When you're away
It just takes some time
- The Middle • Jimmy Eat World
James Pevensie had missed the forests of Narnia whilst they were stuck in England for a year. Yes, there were forests around in England, but these ones were the best. These one had magic, and these ones allowed him to transform into a form like no other. A form which allowed his inner being to subject itself to the entirety of the world. Finally, he was himself.
Whilst they walked through the greenery Narnia offered, Trumpkin briefed them all on the details they had missed. The most prominent of all was the horn. A Telmarine Prince, Caspian X, had found it and called for their help, which was when Trumpkin himself had kidnapped.
This Prince was the source of their arrival in Narnia. Already, James felt as if he owed the boy. However, it didn't seem that everyone else felt the same. Peter, particularly, took it the hardest.
It seemed that this was why he decided to be so assertive. If he thought about it, he would've done things much differently, but his jealousy over a Prince overruled that: even if Peter was a King.
"I don't remember this way." Susan announced as they walked over a settlement of stones and rocks.
"That's the problem with girls." Peter shrugged. "You can't carry a map in your heads."
Rolling his eyes, sort of annoyed, James pushed back some of his blonde hair. "Don't be rude, Peter."
"At least our heads have something in them." Lucy chuckled, and James looked back to see his youngest brother with a smirk on his face.
"I wish he'd just listen to the DLF in the first place." Susan whispered, not as quietly as she would have liked, to the youngest Pevensie.
"DLF?" Edmund wondered from behind the rest of the group, accompanied by Harvey, who wasn't as built for the outdoors as the rest of them.
"Dear little friend." Smiled Lucy, and a snort escaped from Alfie. Swiftly he apologised, but they knew that he didn't really mean it. The permanent smile was enough to prove it.
"Oh, that's not at all patronising, is it?" Trumpkin groaned.
"I'm sure they don't mean it the way it sounds." Harvey attempted to consolidate, but almost fell in the process. Edmund held him up.
"Or they do." Said the younger Gallagher brother. "And then it's for fun."
It only took another minute or so, when they entered a sort of stump tunnel system that Peter whispered, exasperated. "I'm not lost."
"No." The dwarf remarked from behind. "You're just going the wrong way."
"You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods, and the quickest way there is to cross at the river Rush!"
"But, unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts." Trumpkin stated through gritted teeth.
"That explains it, then." Huffed the second blonde. "You're mistaken.
"I don't understand how you're all so unhappy." Harvey awed whilst he followed them up at the rear. "It's all so wonderful here."
So, at this happened, they continued walking. Though Peter, technically, wasn't in charge, James wasn't in the mood to direct them. Maps had never been his forte, not really, and so, walking around a forest was not his ideal day. When they walked, James pulled Peter back for a moment, bordering on furious.
"I don't know what's going on with you anymore." The elder of the two ran a hand through his hair. "I get that you're sick of being treated like a child. I do, but-"
"I'm a King!" Peter retaliated. "I am a King and they treat me like an eleven-year-old."
"Better a child alive than an adult dead." James shrugged, turning away.
"You're cheerful aren't you."
"Be better." The blonde called. "Just be better."
It was when they reached the end of the cliff that James knew Peter had been proved wrong. He believed that there was more to tread across: there was not.
"You see," Susan began, almost cockily. "over time, water erodes the earths soil, carving deeper-"
"Oh, shut up!"
"What did we literally just talk about?" James hissed.
Edmund narrowed his eyes. "Is there a way down?"
"Yeah, falling." Trumpkin deadpanned, both James and Edmund sniggering.
"Well, we weren't lost." Peter huffed.
"There's a Ford near Beruna. How do you feel about swimming?"
"Beruna, like the battle field?" Queried James. "I suppose it's not a field anymore, is it?"
His siblings ignored him, and Alfie patted his shoulder as Susan said. "I'd rather that than walking."
They turned to start their journey in the opposite direction when the youngest Pevensie shouted. "Aslan? It's Aslan! It's Aslan over there!" The smile on her face faded as soon as her siblings looked her way. "Don't you see? He's right... there."
The empty space was crushing.
"Do you see him now?" Trumpkin wondered, though he thought the Queen was being ridiculous.
"I'm not crazy." She persisted.
"No one said you were, Lou." James promised.
"But," Alfie interrupted. "There's nothing wrong with being a little loony."
Then, Lucy continued. "He was there! He wanted us to follow him!"
"I'm sure there are any number of lions in this wood. Just like that bear." Peter attempted to reason.
"I think I know Aslan when I see him." The youngest Pevensie spat, which took the eldest back slightly. This was unlike her more than ever before.
"Look," stated Trumpkin. "I'm not about to jump off a cliff after someone who doesn't exist."
"I would." Smiled James, dark eyes glinting in the light.
"Of course you would." Peter hissed, knowing that his brothers words were partially just to counteract him.
"I'd expect you to join us, but after the what happened with the wardrobe, I doubt you'd want to." James deadpanned, a fiery tone underlying his words.
"Well," Edmund put his words forward, confident, yet understated. "The last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid."
The blonde King looked to the space were Aslan had supposedly been, and sighed. "Why wouldn't I have seen him?"
"Maybe you weren't looking."
Peter just stood tall. "I'm sorry, Lou."
The elders all walked off, except for James. It seemed their magic was dwindling, but his never would. Peter lead the way, Susan and Trumpkin following swiftly. And, as they knew nothing else of this world, the Gallagher brothers did so too.
Edmund stayed behind, making sure Lucy was in front before he started to move. His sword was within reach in case anything happened, but it wouldn't. James was with him, and they all knew that he would rather die than let his siblings do so.
James had a reason to stay behind, wanting to see his brother. They rarely for moments together, and he regretted it more than he should have.
"I'm really proud of you, by the way." Said the High King, wrapping an arm loosely around his brothers shoulders. At that, Edmund seemed to flush a sort of pink. It was rare that he'd get a compliment, and he sort of relished in the feeling."You've grown a lot recently, and no ones really mentioned it."
"Oh..." the younger king ducked his head slightly. "well, thanks. I guess."
"Really, Ed. I mean it."
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Disclaimer!!!!
I don't own anything to do with the Narnia book series or film trilogy. These predominantly belong to C.S. Lewis. However, I do own James Pevensie, Alfie and Harvey Gallagher, and their respective alterations to the storyline.