₁.₀ YES TO HEAVEN; peter pevensie ✔

014.

author's note

Alright, so I ended up finishing this chapter sooner than I thought and, since I've got an university entrance exam later today, I decided to publish it now to brighten my mood a little (or just to feel like I've managed to complete this part more or less in the planned amount of time). Although I should warn you, there are no happy things happening in it. In fact, it's more like the opposite.

There are not many details, and I tired not to make it too graphic, but it's still character death. If anything related to that could upset you, I advise proceeding with caution.

de-lia

🍂

Birdie can climb trees better than anyone Peter has ever known. Even when they were in a hurry to hide from the wolves and he was still angry at her for stopping him from getting to Edmund, he couldn't help but notice how effortless her movements were. While he had to carefully examine the nearest branches to find one that could hold his weight, Birdie seemed to have been doing that entirely on instincts. Her fingers would grab onto the tree with no hesitancy, feet finding support with ease that he could only dream of.

In that moment, Peter would almost suspect her of being one of that unearthly creatures that inhabit Narnia. An elf... or some kind of a dryad. She could, with her abilities, her interest in nature and theat ethereal beauty he grew to notice with time.

In this moment, Peter watches Birdie - the girl he would trust with his life if she was telling him where he can and cannot put his feet - as her lips part in surprise and her eyes widen before the ground gives away from underneath her.

And then she falls.

Peter is conscious of the piercing shriek that leaves Lucy's mouth, his sister's voice pitched in a way he's never heard before. Peter is conscious of the fact that his siblings scramble to their feet before they begin running, leaving him far behind on the ground.

And he remains motionless, unable to look away. Peter watches as Birdie tumbles off the cliff, the deep lines on his forehead increasing each time her body hits the rocks, until it becomes a mass of tangled limbs and torn clothes. Until it comes with touch with a sharp surface, shaped like a blade sticking out from the ground.

The sound of Birdie's back colliding with the tip of it will haunt Peter years into the future. It's like a tree branch giving way underneath a foot, like porcelain being broken, like glass shattered into pieces.

It isn't until the girl is lying limp at the foot of the cliff that he finally moves. On his hands and knees first, rather crawling than walking before he finally pushes himself off the ground.

"Don't let Lucy come closer," he croaks out once he catches up with his siblings, placing one hand on Edmund's shoulder to grab his attention.

He doesn't wait to see if his brother understood. Peter feels his knees becoming weak as he comes closer towards Birdie, each step harder than the last one. His legs give away at last and his knees hit the ground next to the girl; but physical pain is not the reason behind his wince, because Peter feels his face crumble at the sight before him.

A part of him already knew, of course. That sound... that sound left little place for interpretation, and although Peter prayed and tried to cling onto whatever hope he could have, what he sees now is enough to make the truth impossible to ignore.

"Peter." Susan leans to speak directly into his ear, kneeling next to him. "Peter she's not-"

"I know, Susan," he snaps back, as though angrily, rubbing his face with his hand. "I know."