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🏴☠️The Dawn Treader🏴☠️
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The huge monstrous beast headed straight towards them, ready to engulf them at any moment.
"You just had to ask where the ship was!" Edmund splashed about, trying to keep himself afloat and spitting out water. "Come on, swim!"
"But where?!" Panic strangled Charlotte's voice as she glanced around the ocean. "There's no land anywhere!"
"Right towards the ship, why don't you?!" Edmund suggested sarcastically, swimming away from the danger behind them.
"Where are we?" Eustace glanced around at them, washed over by hysteria as he questioned his reality. "What's going on?!"
"Eustace, swim!" Lucy urged the boy, paddling away with her limbs. "Eustace, come on!"
They began splashing harshly as they swam away as quickly as their hands and feet could paddle. Charlotte followed suit, catching a glimpse over her shoulder of strange pirates diving into the waters in pursuit of them.
Hearing strange voices calling out to them, Charlotte glanced back at the ship shortly, and did a double take. A a sense of familiarity consumed her before it dawned on her that she was glancing at a ship that she had definitely seen before. It had only been tucked away in her memories for so long.
"Wait!" She called on them, but they were too far to acknowledge her. "Edmund!"
One of the supposed pirates grabbed her gently by the shoulder, and she instinctively let out a shocking scream.
"Charlotte!" Edmund called from afar, turning around.
"Keep swimming, you fool!" Eustace urged him on with a tug as he swam past, "it's every man for himself! She's doomed, I tell you!"
Meanwhile, Lucy found herself grabbed by someone, and she shrieked. Then, she heard a familiar voice right behind her that she had not heard in a while.
"It's alright! I've got you!"
Lucy turned her head swiftly, realising that she was in the arms of an old friend.
"Caspian!"
"Lucy!"
"Edmund, it's Caspian!"
Edmund squinted his eyes, examining the crew members of the ship. He wiped the saltwater from his eyes while keeping himself afloat, trying to make out his blurred vision of Caspian from the waters.
"Caspian!" He rejoiced in delight upon recognising his old friend.
"It's alright, boys," Caspian called out to them, "you're safe now!"
"We're in Narnia?" Edmund swam cautiously towards them, still wary of the other strangers diving into the waters.
"Yes, you're in Narnia!" Caspian confirmed with a nod as he urged for his crew to pull them up on board.
"I don't wanna go!" Eustace wailed under a crew member's grasp as Edmund swam past him towards the huge ship, "I want to go back to England! I'm going back to England!"
He splashed in resistance but his efforts were in vain against the grown adult.
Once they were hoisted on board, one by one, Caspian provided them with towels. Charlotte shivered as she glanced at Edmund hopping on board.
"You alright?"
"Well, yeah, swim right towards the ship, why don't we?" Charlotte used his words against him, her eyes squinting and her lips smiling sarcastically.
Edmund grinned sheepishly at her dry humour as he scratched his neck. He glanced at their old friend who had his hand around Lucy's shoulder, escorting her away.
"Caspian!"
Caspian turned around to greet them with a wide grin. "Edmund, Charlotte..."
The three of them reunited in an uncomfortable and soaked embrace.
"It's great to see you."
"Good to see you."
"How long has it been since I was here last?" Charlotte prompted.
"It's been about 3 years," Caspian sighed as he squeezed his hand around her shoulder, "I was worried about you when I came back from my voyage, you know? Word had gotten around that you'd returned to Earth without a farewell celebration. Always seems to happen with you kings and queens from Earth."
"Sorry about that, I was a bit preoccupied at the time."
"With what?"
"Well, I had some suspicions, see, that-"
"Didn't you call for us?" Lucy cut in hastily with a burning curiosity as to why they had returned to the enchanted land, or rather, the sea.
"No," Caspian denied with a puzzled expression, "not this time."
"Well, whatever the case," Edmund had a wide grin on his face, "I'm just glad to be here."
Their conversation was cut short by a terrified scream. They turned to Eustace fighting off a familiar rodent creature latched onto his clothes.
"Don't touch me! Get that thing off me!"
He threw off the tiny creature, still shaking and screaming in a frenzy. The rodent scurried away towards the kings and queens as he panted heavily.
"Reepicheep!" Lucy exclaimed exuberantly.
"Oh!" He sent a stunned glance upwards at all three of them before bowing on instinct. "Your Majesties."
"Hello, Reep," Edmund greeted, "what a pleasure."
"The pleasure is all mine, sir."
"Seems you've come a long way from joining Caspian's ship crew," Charlotte remarked in a jested tone.
"Ah yes," Reepicheep nodded, "I showed him well that I'd make a fine addition. I do miss the days when we used to train at Cair Paravel though. The ship can be unstable for fencing."
"All the more you make an excellent fighter," Charlotte's affirming words caused the mouse to chuckle in agreement.
"Right you are, your Majesty. But first," he gestured towards the young boy who seemed jumpy about the foreign environment, "what to do about this... This... Hysterical interloper?"
Eustace jabbed a finger in Reepicheep's direction. "That giant rat thing just tried to claw my face off!"
"I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs, Sir!"
Instantly, Eustace stood and backed up against the walls of the ship, startled by the laws of nature in Narnia. His eyes widened in disbelief of what he had just heard from a creature. His trembling finger pointed at Reepicheep as his jaw dropped.
"It talked! Did you see..." He glanced at everyone on board in search of reliable witnesses, his eyes extremely wary of the mouse before him. "Anyone just hear that? It, it just talked!"
"He always talks."
"Actually, it's getting him to shut up that's the trick," Caspian agreed in a jested manner.
"The moment there is nothing to be said, your Highness," Reepicheep corrected Caspian, fairly irked, "I promise you, I will not say it."
"Look, I don't know what kind of prank this is!" Eustace continued throwing his tantrum with his finger nodding aggressively towards the ground. "But I want to wake up right now!"
"Perhaps, we could throw him back?" Reepicheep offered, glancing up at Lucy and Edmund.
Edmund gave it a thought, staring into space, until Lucy nudged him for his considerations.
"Edmund!"
Charlotte shook her head at Edmund, once again coming to the defence of their cousin. "He's just not used to Narnia, it isn't exactly like Earth. I reckon it'd take some time for his surroundings to sink in."
"I demand to know!" Eustace stormed all around the deck of the ship. "Just where in the blazes am I?!"
"You're on the Dawn Treader," a minotaur of the ship's crew came forward calmly, "the finest ship in Narnia's navy."
At the sight of the large creature towering over him, Eustace's legs began to feel numb and his face drained into a pale colour. He gave way to his legs and fell unconscious to the floor, which sent the whole crew into laughter.
"Was it something I said?" The minotaur enquired with an apologetic expression when Caspian stepped forward.
"See to him, will you, Tavros?" Caspian instructed with a calm expression. "Seems like he's going to be out for a while."
"Your Majesty," Tavros acknowledged his instructions with a bow.
"Poor kid," Charlotte remarked.
"I'll say," Edmund snorted, "now he can see that the world is a lot bigger than his tiny brain."
"Men!" Caspian announced to his ship crew. "Behold our castaways, Edmund the Just and Lucy the Valiant, High King and Queen of Narnia."
Everyone bowed in respect for the two siblings who had just been granted such titles by the King of Narnia. Charlotte followed suit, smiling at Edmund. He mirrored her smile and threw her a wink. She rolled her eyes at his cocky behaviour and shook her head, though her bashfulness slipped through her smile.
"And the return of our dear Queen, Queen Charlotte the Selfless," he added with a sentimental smile towards his old partner.
Charlotte stood on his cue and nodded to the crew.
"High King and Queen!" She jumped for joy, pulling the two siblings into a hug. "Congratulations!"
"Thanks, Char," Edmund gave a warm smile.
"Wonder why he didn't give you that title," Lucy frowned in confusion, "you're older than me, after all."
"You've got 15 years of experience, Lucy," she suggested with a pat. "I may be the offspring of two ancient rulers, but you're the sister of the previous High King and Queen. That makes you Susan's successor."
Before Lucy could rebut her theories, Caspian's voice interrupted their conversation. "Come with me! I'll show you to your rooms."
The three of them caught up with him, especially Edmund who was oddly light on his feet.
"Caspian, if you don't mind me asking," he enquired, "are you bunking with anyone? I was hoping to catch a break from that whiny cousin of mine."
Caspian chuckled. "He's an odd one, I'll be honest. But you're welcome to bunk with me, I'm sure Reep is willing to share his quarters with the boy."
They continued ambling down the hallway until Caspian halted outside of a chamber on the lower deck. He opened the door, allowing Lucy and Charlotte to peek into the chambers.
"These rooms have beds, I hope you'll find them comfortable."
Two beds sat in the corners of the room. In the middle at its far end were two chairs and a table.
"It's perfect, Caspian," Lucy admired their quarters.
"We'll have some clean and dry clothes sent over," he assured the girls before gesturing Edmund to follow him elsewhere.
"I'll see you later," Edmund assured them, sending a wave to Charlotte and flashing his dashing smile before he disappeared into the hallway.
"Again in Narnia," Lucy rejoiced as she dumped her bum on the bed, "really feels nice to be here again, eh?"
"Yeah, it's definitely a treat to be back here," Charlotte agreed as she collected clothes from a crew member with words of gratitude.
"And Caspian's really grown, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, he has."
She separated their clothes neatly and hung hers on the room divider as Lucy rambled on.
"I mean, he's grown a beard and he looks mature. I wonder if he'd notice I've grown too."
"Of course he would, Lu," Charlotte agreed as she went behind the room divider, "I've seen you mature into a gorgeous teenager."
"You think he might've found himself a queen?"
"Dunno, as far as I'm concerned, he never met one during our reign together. Never proposed to me either because we saw each other as..." Charlotte peeked her head out of the room divider and glanced at Lucy wide-eyes, "No, don't tell me..."
"What?" Lucy was in denial, "I mean, he looks dashing."
"Yes but, we've always seen him as a brother, haven't we?" Charlotte reminded her as her clothes were slowly hung over the partition.
"Well, he's grown... And so have we."
"Still, I don't see how that changes the relationship we have with him."
"I don't know, do you think he'd ever be attracted to me like he was to Susan?"
"Don't do that to yourself, Lu."
"Never mind that, then," Lucy dropped the subject in embarrassment, "what about you? You've been real quiet about matters with your aunt."
"Oh, don't even mention her to me," an exhausted sigh echoed behind the partition, "she never bothered to check on me. After all, your aunt did inform her of my whereabouts."
"Well, now that we're in Narnia, maybe you might want to reopen that investigation."
"Yeah, but we don't even know where to start."
"Caspian might know something."
Charlotte strolled out from behind the partition in fresh clothes. She donned a cream coloured loose long-sleeved top, with a corset vest layered over it that went down to her knees like a dress. She headed towards the mirror which caught Lucy's attention.
"Look at you, Miss Pirate!" Lucy teased lightheartedly as she sat up on the bed. "Alright, it's my turn. I hope I look as good as that."
"You will, Lu," Charlotte chuckled, heading to the bed to complete her outfit with black boots.
Shortly after Lucy was done, a knock came at the door, followed by Edmund's voice.
"Lucy, Char?"
"Yeah, Ed!" Charlotte rushed to open the door. "What do you need?"
Edmund did a double take at her outfit, his eyes swiftly scanning her up and down. He inhaled sharply and cleared his throat, finally meeting her eyes.
"Caspian says he's got something to show us all."
*****
A/N: Finally, another update! I've been drowning in assignments the past whole month, and finally I can breathe. There's still some more, but thank goodness I could spare a few hours to myself. Thank you for your patience! 🥺❤️