The five of us and Trumpkin row down Glasswater. I follow Lucy' gaze to look up at the trees.
'They're so still.' Lucy says sadly.
'They're trees. What did you expect?' Trumpkin said confused.
'They used to dance', I told him.
'It wasn't long after you left the Telmarines invaded.' Trumpkin explained as Peter continued rowing, 'Those that survived retreated to the woods. And the trees have retreated so deeply inside themselves that no one has heard from them since.'
'I don't understand', I say, 'How could Aslan let this happen?'
'Aslan?' Trumpkin questioned, 'I thought he abandoned us after you lot did.'
'We didn't mean to leave, you know', Peter argued.
'Doesn't make much difference now, does it?' Trumpkin proclaimed.
'Get us to the Narnians and it will.' Peter snapped.
When we finally reached the shore and climbed out of the boat, Trumpkin ties the boat down. Meanwhile I wonder off a little, I notice a bear.
'Hello there!' I call out happily to the bear, who makes a noise of surprise, 'It's alright, we're friends.' The bear stands up and looks at me.
'Don't move, your Majesty!' Trumpkin shouts.
The bear starts charging towards me.
'Stay away from her!' Susan warns.
'Susan, shoot!' Edmund yells.
The bear continues charging, I scream and fall back. Just before he reaches me, an arrow hits the bear and it falls over.
'Why wouldn't it stop?' Susan asks as I hear them run towards me.
'I expect it was hungry', Trumpkin states.
When they reach me, Peter pulls me up into his arms and holds me tightly, pointing his sword at the bears body.
'He was wild.'
'I don't think it could talk at all.'
'Get treated like a dumb animal long enough and that's what you become.' Trumpkin draws his knife and kills the bear, I look away, 'You may find Narnia is a more savage place than you remember.'
All of us walk through the forest: 'I don't remember this way at all.' Susan states confused.
'That's the problem with girls', Peter commented, 'You can't carry a map in your heads.'
'That's because our heads have something in them.' I tell him.
'I wish he'd just listen to the DLF", Susan says.
'DLF?' Ed questions.
'Dear Little Friend', Lucy and I say simultaneously.
'Oh, that's not at all patronizing, is it?' Trumpkin mumbled.
Peter steps into a rock passage and stops: 'I'm not lost', he tells himself.
'No...' Trumpkin tells him, 'You're just going the wrong way.'
'You said you last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Wood, and the quickest way there is to cross at the river rush.' Peter insisted.
'But, unless I'm mistaking, there's no crossing in these parts.'
'That explains it then. you're mistaking.' Peter stands firm.
I moved to try and reason with him, but he turned around, motioning us to continue walking. Later we come across a gorge. We can see the rushing water below us.
'Over hundreds of years', Susan began, 'water eroded the earth's soil...'
'Oh, shut up', Peter interrupted, 'Is there a way down?'
'Yeah, falling', Trumpkin states, 'Come. There's a ford at Beruna. Any of you mind swimming?'
'Anything is better than walking', Susan remarks.
We start walking when Lucy yells: 'It's Aslan! It's Aslan over there! Well, can't you see? He's right...' We all look to where she's pointing, she also turns, we see nothing, '... there.'
'Do you see him now?
'I'm not crazy', She insisted, 'He was there. He wanted us to follow him.'
'I'm sure there are any number of lions in this woods', Peter tried, 'Just like that bear.'
'I know Aslan when I see him.' she insisted.
'Look, I'm not about to jump off a cliff after someone who doesn't exist. Trumpkin snorted.
'Last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid.' Edmund stated in defense of his sister.
Peter seemed quite sad, 'Why wouldn't I have seen him?'
'Maybe you weren't looking', Lucy opted.
'I'm sorry, Lu', He says before starting to walk away. I wrapped my arm around the young girl, 'Don't worry, Lu. Aslan always comes whenever he wants, he is not a tame Lion.' She smiles and nods, 'You're right.'
Soldiers, with similar uniforms to the ones we saw before, are in large quantities near the water, building a bridge. We hide behind stacks of woods and watch.
'Perhaps this wasn't the best way after all.' I observe needlessly.
When we reached the gorge again Peter asked Lucy: 'Where do you think you saw Aslan?'
'I wish you'd all stop acting like grown-ups.' Lucy said angered. 'I didn't think I saw him. I did see him.'
'I am a grown-up.' Trumpkin says softly.
Lucy walks towards towards the edge. 'It was right around...' suddenly the ground underneath her feet collapses, Lucy screams. We all rush over, only to see her sitting safely just a few feet down, 'Here.'
Looking down, wee see a steep and narrow path going slantwise down into the gorge between the rocks. We walk down the path and cross the gorge. I slip but Peter, who walked behind me, caught me by wrapping his arms around my waist. He kissed my cheek before carefully continuing the crossing.
When we reach the woods on the other side, it was already starting to get darker. We stopped and made camp for the night. Everyone falls asleep around the fire. At dawn, I hear a growl that causes me to wake up. Unwrapping Peters arms from around me, I got up. I walk away from the rest, who are still sleeping. I push branches out of the way as I make my way through the forest. A dryad floats by and smiles at me. The trees move aside, making way for me.
'Alexa', I hear softly. I run... and there he is. The lion stands on top of a small hill. I joyfully run over to him and hug him, he laughs.
'I've missed you so much... you've grown!'
'Every year you grow, so shall I' Aslan smiles.
'Where've you been? Why haven't you come to help us?' I ask.
'Things never happen the same way twice, dear one.' he tells me.
Then a twig snaps.
