₁.₀ YES TO HEAVEN; peter pevensie ✔

013.

author's note

This chapter was supposed to be the last one taking part during the events of the first movie. But I've written about a half of it and I realised that it's already pretty long, so I decided to split it into two parts. I will try to publish the next (and last) part sometime next week, but in the meantime - please, enjoy!

de-lia

🍂

Her breath bated, Birdie can't tear her gaze away from Peter's figure, even though it's no more than a small spot among the hell that the ground down below has become.

All around him, she sees his troops falling, their bodies hitting the ground after receiving the last blow; she can't bring herself to care. There's a pang of guilt inside her, her conscience whispering that she's not being fair, that she's not being humane... Peter has accused her of cruelty - almost a lifetime ago, it seems - and she didn't even bat an eye fighting him about it, because that was just her reason speaking. But all Birdie cares about is Peter's safety, both her heartbeat and her thoughts racing as she tries to recall each single prayer she's been taught in the past, words no more than whispers on her lips.

Her heart sinks in her chest heavily as the White Witch's chariot cuts through the fire, the flames that separated the opposing armies dying out. It was a futile hope, to think that it could last, but it was a moment of the desired victory becoming just the slightest bit more possible; now, Birdie isn't so sure. And the fact that the Witch takes no part in the battle only adds to it, because it can only mean one thing.

The only goal Jadis has her sight set on is killing Peter.

It's not Birdie's part to choose, and Narnia is all the better for it, because she would be willing to sacrifice all the lives down there just to make sure he keeps his.

She barely registers the sound of a horn cutting through the air until there's a movement next to her, Edmund grabbing onto her forearm without a warning. He pulls her with him, Birdie's arm feeling as though it was about to fall out of its socket as they follow Mr. Beaver. She tries to keep up, but her legs, her sense of balance... They've allowed her to run around the Professor's property, to climb trees as though it was a part of her nature, and Birdie has trusted them all her life without a single doubt ever crossing her mind. Now she feels every uneven rock underneath her feet, pain already awaking in her toes and heels as she trips and stumbles time after time.

Edmund leads her down some path and Birdie catches a glimpse over the edge of the nearest rocks - the ground below still seems to be far. She's had her fair share of accidents when she was a child and her skin used to be covered in bruises, but the possibility of falling down there right now is enough to make her focus once again. Losing attention would probably cost her a lot, much more than Birdie is willing to sacrifice here in Narnia.

So, instead, she pulls herself back together. What was that signal supposed to mean? Retreat, was that it?

"Here." Edmund halts and Birdie's palm opens automatically as he hands her the rains of a chestnut coloured horse. "Philip will take good care of you. Rainmane too."

Birdie glances at the fair haired female centaur before mounting the horse, her fingers combing through his mane as she tries to find her balance. She's half-glad Edmund mentioned her name, because the girl managed to forget it already - not intentionally, of course, or out of the lack of respect, but it slipped her mind easily in midst of current events. And it would most certainly be awkward, she's sure, if she didn't know how to address the centauress while the two - or three, if Philip is to be counted - watch the battle.