Lost boy || Prince Caspian

4

Otto woke with a gasp. He blinked in the darkness, momentarily forgetting where he was. Then the sounds filtered in and he sagged back into his pillow with a sigh. Around him the ship creaked and water splashed against the hull. Snores from the crew seemed to rattle the wood just as much as the elements outside. Otto ram a hand through his hair in the dark, palms pressing into his eyes as he choked back a dry whimper. The nightmare already fading from his head but the fear and panic in his chest still clutched at him.

The ship rocked to the right and his hammock swung with it. Otto turned at peered around in the gloom. He could make out Edmund's sleeping form in the hammock next to him. The boy was sleeping as deeply as a babe despite the snores and the fact that they were on a ship. None of the London children had ever been on a ship before and Otto was slightly amused that Edmund was sleeping so well. The dark haired boy was curled up around his pillow, mouth open and light snores escaping.

On the other side of Otto, Caspian was quiet. The man, (the fact that he was a man at Twenty one was still weird to him) was lying on his side. His face hidden by an arm and the dark. Otto inhaled and sighed deeply, willing his heart to calm. It was pounding in his chest despite the fact that he couldn't even recall the nightmare anymore. He turned and glanced at Caspian again but the panic was not letting up.

Giving up on sleep, Otto leaned over to pick up his borrowed boots from the floor. He slid soundlessly out of the hammock and padded barefoot out of the door. The crew's quarters were in the back of the ship on the gun deck. Otto slipped the door shut and walked slowly passed the infirmary and across the ship to where the wooden steps led above deck.

The night air was refreshingly cold. Otto inhaled deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose, hair flopping over his face. Around him, the world was soft and quiet. Only the gentle waves lapping at the sides of the ship and the breeze made any noise. Only a few crew members were still awake. They were on the night shift, keeping an eye on the weather and the ship's course. None of them spared Otto much of a glance. The dark keeping his face hidden, for which he was grateful. He didn't want to be treated like a king now.

A familiar outline of shadow on the prow made him blink in surprise. He climbed up the steps and walked towards the dragon prow. The small form jolting in shock when Otto got closer. Eustace spun wildly and Otto paused, holding out his hands. Once he saw him, the blonde boy snorted and wrinkled his nose. "Oh it's you. The vagrant".

"Oh it's you", Otto mimicked with a roll of his eyes. "The stowaway".

Eustace frowned. "Aren't we all stowaways?"

Otto shrugged and leaned his arms on the wooden railing. "I mean, Lucy, Edmund and I have been here before. We have lived here and fought battles. We have lived more than you could ever dream".

Eustace seemed like he didn't know what to say in response to that. Instead he scowled. "What are you doing here? Can't I get a piece of space around here?"

"We are on a ship. If you want space then feel free to swim". Maybe Otto's tone had been too harsh because Eustace's face dropped. For a second he looked like what he was. A scared child far away from home. Otto huffed and took a frustrated breath. "Sorry. I haven't been sleeping". Otto paused. "Are you sleeping?"

"It's too noisy down there. It's like rooming with a bunch of trolls. Are there trolls here?"

"No I haven't heard of trolls living here. But you're right, they are loud. You'll get used to them".

"But I don't want to get used to them", was the whispered reply.

"Look", Otto sighed and forced his voice to soften. "I know that you don't want to be here. But Eustace, we can't open the path back to London until our quest is completed. I know that your cousins may not act like they like you much, but they will keep your safe. Unfortunately you'll just have to wait until our quest is completed before you can go home".

Eustace scoffed to cover up the slight water in his eyes. "As if I need anybody's help. I can look after myself. Mother says that I am advanced for my age". He sniffed and silence fell between them. "You said 'you can go home'. Not 'we'. You didn't include yourself in that statement".

Otto raised his eyebrows in slight surprise. Eustace was smarter than he appeared, when he wasn't snapping at people and being a rude child. "I did refer to London as your home. It's not mine anymore".

"Why?" The word was innocent and curious despite the sharpness of his tone.

"Because my home is Narnia. I was born in London but one day I ended up here. It has freed me from the things that would have gotten me killed in England. Here I can be myself and live how I want".

"But London has technology and society. We have a government and electricity. Cities and baths. I do not see how this backwater world which does not even have running water could possibly be better".

Otto grinned in the night cold. "Narnia does not have corruption. It does not have racism or discriminate against love. It has adventures and beauty that I feel England lacks. I am more here than I could ever be in London".

"How could you discriminate against love?" The question was naive but Otto did not fault him for it. He had met Eustace's parents and they explained a lot about the boy.

"I like men", the statement was clear. "I could never marry or have children with a woman".

"But that's the natural way", Eustace's whole face was scrunched up in confusion. "I thought that it was against god. Father says that a man's job is to have a family and provide for them".

"Maybe that's the way it is thought to be in London", Otto shrugged. "But here I can marry a man and adopted children with him. Is that any different? Only, that here it is accepted. Animals don't talk in London but they do in narnia. Why should the standards of love be the same?"

Eustace's face was going through a dizzying range of emotions. Confusion, fear, uncertainty, disgust, back to confusion. Otto watched him with steely eyes for a short while before taking pity on the boy. "Go and get some sleep Eustace. Philosophise on the subject in the morning. Just try to keep and open mind". He gently took the boys shoulders and steered him round towards the rest of the ship. Eustace began to stagger off without a reply or a parting. Otto watched as the blonde disappeared below. The boy wearing a faintly mind blown expression.

Otto chuckled and turned back to the water. It was a fathomless black shape below. The faint moonlight from the cloudless sky giving the waves a silver shimmer as they rose and fell. Footsteps sounded on the stairs behind him. Otto turned in surprise to see who had disturbed him.

"Caspian".

Unedited