𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙄𝙍𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙎 𝘿𝘼𝙂𝙂𝙀𝙍 • caspian

part six

𝘼𝘿𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙊𝙉

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙀𝙊𝙋𝙇𝙀 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙄𝙎𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙎 𝙂𝘼𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙊𝙂𝙀𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙀𝙍𝙀𝘿. The passengers of the Dawn Treader smiled as they were gifted with the whoops of locals.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" The curly haired man from earlier rushed forward. Daria unsheathed one of her many knives and held her hand to the man's chest.
"Hold it there!" She told him with a stern look. Caspian and Edmund both placed their hands on the hilt of their swords, unsure if this man posed a threat.
"My wife was taken just this morning." The man directed his speech to the king as Daria held him at arms length. A little girl in a purple dress and long curly hair ran up and grabbed the mans shirt.
"It's okay, Daria." Caspian placed his hand on the woman's lower back. She removed her hand and let the distressed father walk forward.
"I beg you, take me with you." The man sighed. Caspian placed his hand on the man's shoulder as they continued to walk.
"Gael!" A woman yelled as she tried to reach for the girl, afraid to get to close to the royalty.
"Daddy, I want to come!" Gael grabbed her fathers sleeve.
"No Gael, stay with your aunt." The man pushed his daughter back gently. He then turned back to Caspian.
"I'm a fine sailor." He tried to convince. "Been on the seas my whole life."
"Of course, you must." Caspian patted the man's shoulder and continued on.
"Thank you!" The man smiled and stopped to talk to his daughter.

"That was kind." Daria nudged the kings arm gently.
"When am I ever not kind?" The man smirked at the woman next to him.
"Would you like me to make you a list?" She chuckled. Caspian laughed and pushed her slightly.
"My king! My king!" Lord Bern marched forward with something in his hands. Lucy rushed up to see what was happening.
"This was given to me by your father." The older man held out what looked like a sword. However, it was covered in mold and algae from the dungeon. 
"I hid it safely in a cave all these years." He informed them.
"That's an old Narnia sword." Edmund pointed out.
"It's from your Golden Age. There are seven, gifts from Aslan to protect Narnia." Daria placed her arm on the Pevensie boys shoulder, leaning on him slightly.
"You know of the swords?" Lord Bern turned to Daria.
"One of the lords washed up on the shore of my homeland. I helped him and he helped me. He became something of a father figure. He spoke of it and the other lords often." Daria told the man with a small smile.
"Ah yes, I can see his ways in you." Bern chuckled softly, knowing which lord she spoke of without having to ask.
"He'll be happy to know you're doing well." Daria smiled more confidently now.
"Anyhow, your father entrusted these swords to us." Lord Bern turned back to Caspian. "Here, take it. And may it protect you."
Caspian stepped forward and took the sword gently. When he held it, the crowd cheered once more.
"Thank you, my lord." Caspian nodded. "And we shall find your lost citizens."
As they walked off, Caspian glanced to his friend of the Golden Age.
"Edmund." He called, causing the Pevensie to stop. Caspian then handed the sword to the young man. Edmund held it in shock and watched Caspian walk away. Daria chuckled and pat the man's shoulder.
"Come on then. We have things to do!" She rushed after Caspian.
"Another kind thing to add to the list." He teased as she made it next to him.
"Mm, we'll see. You still have something to do that will make me forget all about the unkind list." She smirked at his confusion and walked faster to the boat.

-

'Dear diary, there has been an extraordinary turn of events. I've been abducted by my cousins and set adrift in uncharted waters in some ridiculous looking boat. What's worse, is that I share quarts with an obnoxious mouse thing. And I thought bunking with my cousin was bad enough. So far, every person I've met in this strange place suffers from the most florid delusions. Chasing green mists and looking for lost lords. I can only assume this is the result of a poor diet. Or they're all just barking mad. Cousin Edmund is no exception. He spends every spare second rubbing that tin sword of his like it's some magic lantern. Poor fool clearly needs a hobby.'
"It's going to be magnificent!" Reepicheep encouraged as Edmund inspected the sword. So far, he had gotten a lot of the mold off.
"Do they come in a smaller size?" The mouse chuckled.
"It's looking great Edmund! Keep it up!" Daria smiled genuinely as she helped with some work around the deck.
'Peeving marmot. He's even more deluded than my cousin.'
A seagull flew up to the boy that sat behind different crates.
"In England we have mouse traps for that sort of thing." The boy spoke to the bird. "Speaking of food, you don't know where I could get any, do you?"
"Uh, why are you talking to that bird?" Tarvros asked as he and another crewman kept watch on a perch.
"Well, I just naturally assumed he can-" Eustace tried to explain.
"He's talking to birds!" Travors guffawed.
"He's mad as a loon, that one." The crewman chuckled.
"Shoo! Go on, get out!" Eustace nudged the bird away.

Daria was about to walk down to the belly of the ship when Eustace ran up. He bumped into her and she noticed he had a rather large knife in his hand.
"Oh, sorry." He waved to the woman as he ran away, knocking into other men that were actually working.
"Trying to run away?" Reepicheep ran along the edge of the ship and jumped on a rope, swinging to the boy. "We're on a boat y'know." He drew his sword.
"Look, can't we just discuss this?" The boy gasped for breath.
Reepicheep used his sword to rip the boys shirt. "That was for stealing," He poked an orange and removed it from the boys person. "That was for lying," The mouse then whipped the boy across the face with the orange. "And that was for good measure!"
By now, all of the men and creatures were watching. Because when Reepicheep started scolding someone, you knew it was about to get interesting.
Eustace glanced at the knife in his hand and swung at the mouse.
"That's the spirit!" Reep chuckled as he dodged. "We have ourselves a duel. Catch!" He flung the orange and Drinian caught it with ease.
"Now, come on. Take your best shot." Reep ushered the boy. Eustace obeyed and stabbed forward, but the mouse just ducked.
"Is that it? Come on, boy!" He quipped again, this time jumping as the blond swung sideways.
"Focus! Focus! Yes!" Reepicheep instructed as the boy swung.
Eustace hit the edge of the boat and dropped his knife.
"Now, stop flapping your wings like a drunken pelican. Poise!" The mouse explained as the boy grabbed his knife.
"Keep your blade up! Up, up! That's it." The mouse motioned. Eustace grunted as he pushed forward, landing in the edge with Reepicheep running along his back. As the boy stood, the mouse jumped up to where the ropes were kept and dodged another swing with elegance. Eustace then got his blade stuck in the wood. Reep jumped off the boys back and landed on a barrel.
"Yoo-hoo! Over here!" He teased. Eustace got his blade back and turned.
"Now, lunge with your foot." Reep jumped from the barrel to the deck. "Not your left; your right." The noble warrior slashed his ankles. "Got it? Come on!" He jumped back to the edge. "Be nimble. Be nimble!" Eustace glanced at his feet.
"It's a dance, boy, a dance. Come on!" Reep urged. Eustace stabbed to the right, then to the left. "Now, again and again. That's right. That's right. That-" Reepicheep balanced on one foot before he toppled over the edge, Eustace ran over and looked to find where the mouse had gone.
Reepicheep appeared over the boys shoulder and tapped him with his tail. When Eustace looked over, Reepicheep pushed him to the ground.
"And that is that!" The mouse finalized. Eustace knocked into a barrel and it fell over, however, a scream came from it too. Daria glanced at Lucy and the two walked forward.
"Look." Lucy called and the crewmen quieted down. There crawled out a little girl in a purple dress.
"Gael?" Rhince, the man they brought along, walked forward. "What are you doing here?"
The girl stood but said nothing. The once quiet crewmen began to murmur between each other.
"Here." Rhince walked forward and engulfed his daughter. Drinian walked forward but kept his silence. Rhince looked down in shame, thinking he was in trouble.
"Looks like we have an extra crew member." The captain offered the orange before walking away. Lucy and Daria stepped up.
"Welcome aboard." Daria smiled sweetly, kneeling down to the girls height.
"Your Majesties." Gael curtsied.
"I'm just Daria, this is Lucy. Come on." Daria took the girls hand lightly, standing up and walking off the deck with Lucy next to her.
"Come on. Look lively!" Drinian yelled. "Back to work."
Eustace grabbed his knife and looked around.
"Good match." Reepicheep sheathed his own blade. "I'll make a swordsman of you yet."
Eustace couldn't help a small smile that crept on his mouth. "Yes, well, if the playing fields were a little more even, would have been an entirely different result."
"Indeed." Reepicheep chuckled.