Voyage of the Dawn Treader 4/?
Title: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Summary: Lucy and Edmund are not the only Pevensie children to return to Narnia after all.
Characters/Pairings: Caspian/Susan; Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, etc.
Rating: K+ // PG-13
Chapter Four:
“Do you want to see the ship?” Caspian asked.
“I think I at least must really see Eustace. Seasickness is horrid, you know,” Lucy said with a frown. It was clear that she was remembering her first few trips on the Splendor Hayline. Lucy had been the only one to get seasick, and luckily after a few trips she no longer got sick as soon as she got used to the feeling of the ship rocking underneath of her. “If I had my old cordial with me, I could cure him.”
“But you have,” Caspian said suddenly. “I’d quite forgotten about it. As you left it behind I thought it might be regarded as one of the royal treasures and so I brought it. You think it ought to be wasted on a thing like seasickness?”
“If he stops whining it won’t be a waste,” Peter said in quite a nasty tone. Susan looked at him in surprise. Her brother was acting quite unlike himself. As soon as she could get a quiet moment she would be speaking with him. There was definitely something decidedly off about her older brother.
“It will only take a drop,” Lucy said.
“The cordial is in your cabin,” Caspian said. “So is your sword, Peter. And as is your bow, Susan,” there was that stumble in his voice again, “but I did not think to bring your horn.”
“Well, hopefully we won’t need it,” Edmund said.
Caspian lead the way to his former cabin. Peter pulled Susan aside so that they could walk slightly out of earshot. “Are you all right?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“Lucy already asked me that,” Susan said. “And I’m not quite sure. We weren’t supposed to come back.”
“Not about that. About Caspian. You two, you know. And then Drinian mentioned --,”
“Stop it!” Susan hissed at her brother. “I knew he would move on. And we can’t stay, so what’s the point?”
“I don’t think he’s moved on, Su,” Peter said, but they had reached the stern cabin so they conversation had to be halted.
Caspian pulled Lucy’s diamond flask out of one of the lockers. Her face lit up at the sight of it and cradled it in her hands happily. Caspian then pulled Peter’s sword out, handing it to him. Next to come out of the locker was Susan’s bow and quiver. As she took it their hands touched for the barest of seconds. It was over before she knew it had even happened, but there was a trace of that storybook tingle from where he had touched her.
“Thank you,” she said quietly, a smile on her face as she looked over the treasured possession.
“I do have to say that we’re probably out of practice,” Peter said.
“Speak for yourself,” Susan said. “I am on the archery team at school.”
“I’m sorry, Edmund, but uh,” Caspian began awkwardly. “I can lend you one of my swords.”
“It’s all right,” Edmund sighed. “I’m well used to it by now.”
There was an awkward silence for a moment and Susan gripped her bow tightly.
“Why don’t you leave that here, Susan?” Peter asked.
Susan nodded reluctantly, knowing she had no use for it on the ship. But she had missed it while she was in England. She placed the bow and quiver on the small table in the room and traced a finger over it lovingly.
“Eustace then?” Edmund asked.
“A bit of a tour first, perhaps?” Caspian suggested.
“Why not?” Peter said.
The royals, Drinian, and Reepicheep headed down through the ship to the cabin Eustace was in. The cabin in question had a low ceiling and sloped sides. A thick glass window in the wall was actually making Susan slightly nauseas due to the pitching of the ship. One moment there would be golden light and the next green as the window went under.
“We men will be lodging here,” Caspian said. “We’ll leave your kinsman the bunk and sling hammocks for ourselves.”
“I beseech your Majesty,” Drinian began.
“No, no,” Caspian said, cutting him off. “We’ve argued about it already. You and Rhince are sailing the ship and will have cares and labors many a night when we are singing catches or telling stories, so you and he must have the port cabin above.” Apparently things had gone on while Susan and Lucy had been changing. “King Peter, King Edmund, and I can lie very snug here below.” And snug indeed it would be with four boys. “But how is the stranger?”
A very green looking Eustace scowled at them all from the bunk. “Is there any sign of the storm going away?” he asked.
“What storm?” Caspian asked curiously.
“Storm, young master?” Drinian asked with a voice full of laughter. “This is as fair weather as a man could ask for.”
“Who’s that?” Eustace asked, sounding quite irritable. “Send him away. His voice goes through my head.”
Susan sent an apologetic glance at Drinian as Lucy said, “I’ve brought you something that will make you feel better, Eustace.”
“Oh, go away and leave me alone,” Eustace growled at them.
“See, there’s no helping him,” Edmund frowned, crossing his arms.
“Eustace, it really will help,” Susan said, going to stand by the bunk.
“I don’t want it,” Eustace said.
“Please, Eustace,” Susan pleaded.
“Will it make you all go away?” Eustace asked miserably.
“Yes,” Susan said. “We’ll go away if you have some.”
“Fine then,” Eustace told her.
The aroma that came out of the little flask when Lucy opened it was wonderful. It was enough to banish all traces of nausea from Susan, though Eustace said it smelled horrible. Lucy titled a drop into their cousin’s mouth.
“Oh that’s horrible stuff,” he said, though it was clearly just to be contrary as his color immediately improved. “I demand to be put ashore at the first port. I’m going to lodge a disposition against the whole lot of you with the British Consul.”
Caspian looked at Peter in confusion. Peter merely shook his head.
“And what is a disposition? How do you lodge one?” Reepicheep asked, sounding quite excited.
Eustace floundered for a moment before answering, “Fancy not knowing that.”
“Eustace, we are heading towards the closet landmass,” Susan said. “And we’re going as fast as we can. We’ll be to the Lone Islands quite soon.”
“I’ve never heard of those. I want to go home,” Eustace said with a half pout, half scowl.
“We can’t get you back to Cambridge,” Susan said. “We don’t know how. Will you please get dressed and come up? You’ll feel so much better for it.”
“Fine,” Eustace said sulkily.
The Pevensies, Caspian, Drinian, and Reepicheep left the cabin to wait for Eustace. They could hear him inside grumbling about a variety of sources including, but not limited to: trained mice, irritable cousins who thought they were royalty, their inability to find British soil, and how uncivilized the ship was. Eustace came out of the room a moment later, still looking upset and unhappy. He grudgingly followed them up to the deck where they continued the tour of the ship.
One stop on the tour was the fighting deck, or the crow’s nest if one was thinking of a pirate ship. This was a bad idea. Apparently Eustace was afraid of heights, which none of the Pevensie children knew.
He whined all of the way up, but once they actually up the whining turned into complete panicking. He clung to Susan, babbling nearly incoherently. Al that they could make out consisted of, “Nightmare. Horrible nightmare!”
It took all of them to get him down to the deck without him accidentally letting go and falling. They did agree, though, that it was slightly disconcerting to be rocking about when the deck was so far below.
Eustace was still quite rattled during the rest of their tour.
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Summary: Lucy and Edmund are not the only Pevensie children to return to Narnia after all.
Characters/Pairings: Caspian/Susan; Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, etc.
Rating: K+ // PG-13
Chapter Four:
“Do you want to see the ship?” Caspian asked.
“I think I at least must really see Eustace. Seasickness is horrid, you know,” Lucy said with a frown. It was clear that she was remembering her first few trips on the Splendor Hayline. Lucy had been the only one to get seasick, and luckily after a few trips she no longer got sick as soon as she got used to the feeling of the ship rocking underneath of her. “If I had my old cordial with me, I could cure him.”
“But you have,” Caspian said suddenly. “I’d quite forgotten about it. As you left it behind I thought it might be regarded as one of the royal treasures and so I brought it. You think it ought to be wasted on a thing like seasickness?”
“If he stops whining it won’t be a waste,” Peter said in quite a nasty tone. Susan looked at him in surprise. Her brother was acting quite unlike himself. As soon as she could get a quiet moment she would be speaking with him. There was definitely something decidedly off about her older brother.
“It will only take a drop,” Lucy said.
“The cordial is in your cabin,” Caspian said. “So is your sword, Peter. And as is your bow, Susan,” there was that stumble in his voice again, “but I did not think to bring your horn.”
“Well, hopefully we won’t need it,” Edmund said.
Caspian lead the way to his former cabin. Peter pulled Susan aside so that they could walk slightly out of earshot. “Are you all right?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“Lucy already asked me that,” Susan said. “And I’m not quite sure. We weren’t supposed to come back.”
“Not about that. About Caspian. You two, you know. And then Drinian mentioned --,”
“Stop it!” Susan hissed at her brother. “I knew he would move on. And we can’t stay, so what’s the point?”
“I don’t think he’s moved on, Su,” Peter said, but they had reached the stern cabin so they conversation had to be halted.
Caspian pulled Lucy’s diamond flask out of one of the lockers. Her face lit up at the sight of it and cradled it in her hands happily. Caspian then pulled Peter’s sword out, handing it to him. Next to come out of the locker was Susan’s bow and quiver. As she took it their hands touched for the barest of seconds. It was over before she knew it had even happened, but there was a trace of that storybook tingle from where he had touched her.
“Thank you,” she said quietly, a smile on her face as she looked over the treasured possession.
“I do have to say that we’re probably out of practice,” Peter said.
“Speak for yourself,” Susan said. “I am on the archery team at school.”
“I’m sorry, Edmund, but uh,” Caspian began awkwardly. “I can lend you one of my swords.”
“It’s all right,” Edmund sighed. “I’m well used to it by now.”
There was an awkward silence for a moment and Susan gripped her bow tightly.
“Why don’t you leave that here, Susan?” Peter asked.
Susan nodded reluctantly, knowing she had no use for it on the ship. But she had missed it while she was in England. She placed the bow and quiver on the small table in the room and traced a finger over it lovingly.
“Eustace then?” Edmund asked.
“A bit of a tour first, perhaps?” Caspian suggested.
“Why not?” Peter said.
The royals, Drinian, and Reepicheep headed down through the ship to the cabin Eustace was in. The cabin in question had a low ceiling and sloped sides. A thick glass window in the wall was actually making Susan slightly nauseas due to the pitching of the ship. One moment there would be golden light and the next green as the window went under.
“We men will be lodging here,” Caspian said. “We’ll leave your kinsman the bunk and sling hammocks for ourselves.”
“I beseech your Majesty,” Drinian began.
“No, no,” Caspian said, cutting him off. “We’ve argued about it already. You and Rhince are sailing the ship and will have cares and labors many a night when we are singing catches or telling stories, so you and he must have the port cabin above.” Apparently things had gone on while Susan and Lucy had been changing. “King Peter, King Edmund, and I can lie very snug here below.” And snug indeed it would be with four boys. “But how is the stranger?”
A very green looking Eustace scowled at them all from the bunk. “Is there any sign of the storm going away?” he asked.
“What storm?” Caspian asked curiously.
“Storm, young master?” Drinian asked with a voice full of laughter. “This is as fair weather as a man could ask for.”
“Who’s that?” Eustace asked, sounding quite irritable. “Send him away. His voice goes through my head.”
Susan sent an apologetic glance at Drinian as Lucy said, “I’ve brought you something that will make you feel better, Eustace.”
“Oh, go away and leave me alone,” Eustace growled at them.
“See, there’s no helping him,” Edmund frowned, crossing his arms.
“Eustace, it really will help,” Susan said, going to stand by the bunk.
“I don’t want it,” Eustace said.
“Please, Eustace,” Susan pleaded.
“Will it make you all go away?” Eustace asked miserably.
“Yes,” Susan said. “We’ll go away if you have some.”
“Fine then,” Eustace told her.
The aroma that came out of the little flask when Lucy opened it was wonderful. It was enough to banish all traces of nausea from Susan, though Eustace said it smelled horrible. Lucy titled a drop into their cousin’s mouth.
“Oh that’s horrible stuff,” he said, though it was clearly just to be contrary as his color immediately improved. “I demand to be put ashore at the first port. I’m going to lodge a disposition against the whole lot of you with the British Consul.”
Caspian looked at Peter in confusion. Peter merely shook his head.
“And what is a disposition? How do you lodge one?” Reepicheep asked, sounding quite excited.
Eustace floundered for a moment before answering, “Fancy not knowing that.”
“Eustace, we are heading towards the closet landmass,” Susan said. “And we’re going as fast as we can. We’ll be to the Lone Islands quite soon.”
“I’ve never heard of those. I want to go home,” Eustace said with a half pout, half scowl.
“We can’t get you back to Cambridge,” Susan said. “We don’t know how. Will you please get dressed and come up? You’ll feel so much better for it.”
“Fine,” Eustace said sulkily.
The Pevensies, Caspian, Drinian, and Reepicheep left the cabin to wait for Eustace. They could hear him inside grumbling about a variety of sources including, but not limited to: trained mice, irritable cousins who thought they were royalty, their inability to find British soil, and how uncivilized the ship was. Eustace came out of the room a moment later, still looking upset and unhappy. He grudgingly followed them up to the deck where they continued the tour of the ship.
One stop on the tour was the fighting deck, or the crow’s nest if one was thinking of a pirate ship. This was a bad idea. Apparently Eustace was afraid of heights, which none of the Pevensie children knew.
He whined all of the way up, but once they actually up the whining turned into complete panicking. He clung to Susan, babbling nearly incoherently. Al that they could make out consisted of, “Nightmare. Horrible nightmare!”
It took all of them to get him down to the deck without him accidentally letting go and falling. They did agree, though, that it was slightly disconcerting to be rocking about when the deck was so far below.
Eustace was still quite rattled during the rest of their tour.
<
Next>>