FicWad

“Still hasn’t gotten any better huh?” Keri asked me quietly as she watched Edmund practically run away from me. We had just bumped into him in the hallway and said our hellos, then he quickly made a bull shit excuse and took off again. He is probably noticing right about now that it was the same direction he had come from.
“Not really,” I said and laughed.
“Maybe you should spend some time with him, you know like what Peter and I did,” she said.
“Oh yeah, he looks like he wants to be alone with me,” I said with heavy sarcasm.
“I can set it up you know, all you have to do is ask,” she sang.
“Uh, no. That would be insanely awkward for me too,” I said.
“Hey, what about you making me go with Peter?” she asked indignantly.
“That was different.”
“You have no idea how alike it is,” she mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” she said in a fake sweet voice.
“Uh huh.” I really don’t know what she meant by that. Her and Peter obviously like each other now, all they’d have to do was realize it for themselves, but… no. She couldn’t possibly mean that could she?
“Tell me,” I said after a few seconds. She rolled her eyes and sighed, she knew from my tone that I wouldn’t give this up.
“I’m just saying that the way you two act around each other, well…”
“We don’t like each other. I don’t know what world you’ve been on,” I said causing us to both laugh. “If anything he might hate me.”
“He does not. Anyway come on,” she said and started leading the way to the throne room again. When we got there I was… not exactly happy to find Susan there. I hadn’t had much interaction with her yet and something told me that I should keep it that way.
“Oh there you are!” Peter shouted across the room and jogged over to us. Where did he get all of this energy from? “What do you think of all six of us doing something?” I actually had to stop and count people.
“Sounds fun! Like what?” Keri asked.
“Well we were thinking of taking a ride to a spot upriver…” he trailed off looking at me.
“Sure, that’s fine,” I said after a second. Why was it that the only thing they wanted to do was go out riding? Whatever, I wouldn’t hurt me to go once… too much.
“Actually on second thought Peter, I have things to do,” Susan said. I hadn’t realized that she and Lucy had walked over to us. Susan gave me a cold stare and I could tell that she thought the same about me as I thought about her.
“I’ll bet,” I muttered before I could stop myself.
“Excuse me?” she asked like she was queen of the world…oh wait.
“Oh you don’t have to ask, feel free to leave,” I said and I heard Keri take a deep breath and hold it like she always does when she’s trying not to laugh.
“How dare you talk to me like that?” she almost shouted. Really? Was she really going to pull that one out?
“And why shouldn’t I? I have a problem with b-… people who think they’re better than everyone else,” I said with a glance at Lucy. She was still a little young for me to use the kind of language I was planning on around her.
“I don’t think I’m better then anyone else. Just you,” she said glaring coldly at me. I have never wanted to punch someone so much as I did right now. A fist right into her upturned nose…
“Lucy why don’t you go see if Edmund wants to go,” I head Keri quietly say from behind me. Wow she knew me well. Lucy looked at her sister and me worriedly but took off quickly to find Edmund. As soon as she was out of the door I let myself go.
“Listen you cunt-”
“Too new,” Keri interrupted. That threw me for a second.
“What?” I asked.
“They’re from 1943, remember? And also England. Try…twat?” she said. If I wasn’t so pissed off right now I probably would have laughed at her odd helpfulness. I could see, however, from the look on Susan’s face that she knew that one.
“Ok… Listen twat. If you are going to judge me before you even know me, fine. But that just tells me how low of a person you are. You do think you’re better then everyone else, and that is so fucking wrong. I’ve only talked to you for less than a minute and I can tell that you are the most pathetic person I have ever met.” Thank God Keri distracted me for that second. In my rage I would have gone with something completely different, this dealt a way bigger blow. Susan opened her mouth to respond then just closed it, she did that a few times before stomping her foot and storming off.
“Mature,” I muttered sarcastically.
“Wow. Apparently you can only get along with half of this family. Confirming my theory that you get along with only half of the people you meet,” Keri said with a laugh. I smiled even though I was still seriously pissed off.
“Um… sorry,” I mumbled to Peter. I didn’t know why I felt the need to apologize… besides the fact that I had now accused one of his family members of being a tyrant and another of being pathetic. Peter had let us stay here after all, most people would probably at least try to be civil.
“Hey, that was completely between you and her. I’m just glad I haven’t caught any of your wrath,” he joked.
“Trust me, you wanna keep it that way,” Keri said.
“Hey there is an extremely unhappy Susan storming around the castle,” Edmund said wandering over to us and chuckling.
“Yeah you missed a good one. Kristi made Susan speechless. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Peter said in between laughs.
“Speechless? That’s impressive, we’re lucky if we get thirty seconds of quiet while she’s around,” Edmund said.
“Yeah. Oh are you coming?” Peter asked Edmund.
“Sure, sounds fun,” Edmund said.
“Peter…” Lucy said. Why did she look so concerned? Both of the boys seemed to know.
“Alright go, but you’ll be missing out,” Peter said with a warm smile at her.
“You can go next time,” Edmund said kindly. Lucy gave them a smile and took off. I glanced at Keri and she looked confused as well.
“She wants to make sure Susan is alright,” Peter said when he saw our confused faces.
“Oh,” Keri and I said at the same time. That kinda made me feel bad.
The four of us made our way to the stables. When we got inside I really did like looking at all of the horses, they had so many. I tried to figure out why some of the horses didn’t have gates on their stalls but I decided that they must be wild or something. I came up to a caramel colored one that had a white mane and tail, this was the one. I liked it instantly.
“Can I ride this one?” I asked to whoever was around. It was Edmund.
“Of course. Do you need me to saddle it?” he asked as politely as possible. Great, he was walking on eggshells around me. It’s not like I’m a ticking time bomb.
“Yeah, I don’t have a clue what to do,” I said making an effort to smile at him. He started working with the saddle and I looked around at the other horses. I saw Keri at the far end of the stables next to a reddish brown horse with a white mane and tail. It looked a little familiar but I had no idea why. Peter was next to her with a white horse but they had both stopped getting them ready to talk.
“I’m sorry about Susan,” Edmund said suddenly causing me to focus on him again.
“You don’t need to apologize,” I said quickly. The last thing I wanted was for him to apologize to me again, especially for something he didn’t even have a part in.
“Ok I won’t,” he said flashing me a smile. “I just want you to know that she can hold a grudge. You may have just made an enemy for life.”
“Thanks, but I honestly don’t care what she thinks of me,” I said moving to pat my horse on the nose.
“I believe it,” he said with another smile. He made it sound almost like a complement. He continued to work on my horse in silence as I pet it.
“Hey,” Keri said from behind me.
“Sup,” I said.
“I don’t think I can go. I’m still super soar from yesterday, my leg is giving me some problems,” she said bending slightly to rub the side of her left knee. Bull shit. Even if she was in horrible pain she would never pass up a chance to get on a horse.
“Oh I’m sorry,” Edmund said. “Why is it just one leg though?”
“I had surgery there. Took out some bone,” she explained. “Anyway I’ll see you when you get back, I’m going to see if I can soak it or something.” She waved and left just like that. That was weird, but she had been limping slightly all day. Edmund shrugged and finished with my horse then moved on to his. He was just finishing up when Lucy popped her head in.
“Peter? Susan wants to talk to you,” She called over to him.
“Really?” he groaned.
“Yes, and she is… intent on it,” Lucy winced at him and left.
“Sorry guys. I guess we’ll all go again some other time. You two should still go though,” Peter said starting to unsaddle his horse.
“Do you want to?” Edmund asked. Wow I really don’t, but I didn’t want to seem rude. Besides it wasn’t the fact that I would be with him, but that I would be on a horse.
“Sure,” I said with a fake smile. I used the fence to climb up, I couldn’t believe how high up I seemed. The horse didn’t look this tall from the ground. As we rode along I was glad to find that my horse didn’t require much steering, it was good to follow Edmunds horse.
“So… are we ok?” Edmund asked awkwardly a few minutes after we had left. I had to think about what he meant for a second, we had been talking about something completely different.
“Oh… yeah. I’ve been good since the… apologies, I thought you were the one with the issue still,” I said almost as awkwardly.
“I guess I still felt bad about what happened,” he said slowly. So he had been feeling guilty this whole time…over me?
“You don’t need to feel bad,” I muttered. God I want I lighter subject, I’m not so good with feelings.
“So,” he said after a while, he seemed to be searching for a subject. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” I said sounding confused and he laughed.
“No I meant, how are you dealing with being on a different world?” he asked with a smile. Not the lighter subject I was looking for.
“Um,” I said just to show that I was thinking and not ignoring his question. See? I think I’m getting better. Anyway, the thing that keeps bugging me about this whole situation is the fact that these people have been here for three years already. They haven’t found a way back in all that time, and now it seems that they don’t want to. And how did we get here in the first place? I knew that that question would probably never be answered. But what about why? Even if it was just magic there should at least be a why.
“I don’t know,” I finally said. “There are worse places I could have gone I guess. And when I think about that I’m glad I’m here. What bothers me is why I’m here. I would at least like to know why, you know?”
“I do. As each of us accepted what we were brought here for we stopped thinking about going home. I’m sure Aslan has a reason for you to be here, and he’ll show you when he feels you’re ready,” he said confidently.
“Aslan… you’ve said his name before. Who is he?” I asked.
“He’s… for lack of a batter term, he’s our God,” he said deep in thought. Great, a god. I’ve never been one for religion, but I never minded people having their beliefs as long as they don’t shove them at me. So he thought I was brought here by his god, awesome. Then there was the fact that he thinks he was given his position by that same god, even better. I was out here with a crazy person. Alone.
“For lack of a better term?” I asked, hoping that his explanation would make him less crazy.
“Well it’s…complicated,” he said. Man I hate it when people say that.
“Well explain it,” I said, my annoyance showing a little.
“Ok… well first off he’s a lion,” he said.
“A lion made you king?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“Yes, but you don’t understand.”
“Then explain it,” I said starting to sound really annoyed. I hate when people say ‘you don’t understand’ more than ‘it’s complicated.’
“I really can’t,” he said, he almost sounded like he was pleading.
“Well then shut up about him. I’d like an actual reason why I might be here, not some bible-thumper reason,” I snapped.
“Hey you wanted the reason and I gave it to you. You don’t know Aslan so I’ll let all that stuff you just said slide-”
“You’ll let it slide? You-… ok, you know, obviously we’re not ok,” I said simply and I yanked my horse’s reins to the side. It snorted and shook its head, it was not happy with my controls, but it turned anyway. I just wanted to be gone, I nudged its sides and it picked up a little speed. It was extremely bouncy and uncomfortable, I knew it must be trotting, I nudged it again and it sped up. I hung on to the saddle horn for dear life but at least this was smoother. Keri had said something about this once… lopping? Yeah that was it.
“Nice job your majesty,” a sarcastic voice said from behind me. He’s talking to himself? He really is crazy. My horse seemed to be very aware I had no idea what I was doing. I just let it run for a while, I wasn’t even steering it, I was just holding on to the horn. Way later than I should have I realized I didn’t know the way back. I looked around me to see if I could recognize anything but it was just trees. As I was looking around the horse lurched forward suddenly and I felt my grip on the horn slip. I slid off the side of the horse and I was just able to catch a glimpse of the fallen tree that I hadn’t seen, but my horse had decided to jump.
**
(Keri’s POV)
“Do you think that was a good idea?” Peter asked me for about the hundredth time.
“Dude, relax. Kristi just says what’s on her mind, she isn’t trying to find fights or anything,” I said. Though they have been gone for quite a while. Maybe Kristi realized that she did like him and made a move? No, that’s not really like her.
“I’m more worried about them finding out what we did,” he admitted.
“Hey it was my plan, man” I said leaning back in my chair. He had talked me into playing chess; I don’t know why I agreed. Oh yes I do, he is seriously hot. I would let him talk me into just about anything.
“You talk strange,” he said getting distracted for a minute.
“That I do,” I said leaving it at that. He gave me a smile and shook his head. I knew that one, it was a nonverbal ‘you’re weird.’ I gave him a smile and a wink then immediately blushed. I can’t believe I just did that, Kristi would be so proud. Peter opened his mouth to say something when the door burst open.
“Tell me she’s here,” a soaking wet Edmund almost shouted.
“Who, Kristi?” Peter asked.
“She was with you,” I said jumping to my feet.
“She was, but then we fought,” Edmund said then turned on his heel and went back through the door. I followed him out quickly, and I mean quickly. As soon as he was back in the hallway he started running, and I took off after him. We both made it to the entrance hall and he didn’t even stop before opening a huge door and heading back out into the pouring rain. I could see though the door that his horse was still out there waiting for him. I made to follow him but strong arms caught me around my waist, I didn’t have to look to know who it was.
“Peter let go,” I said still struggling against him. I could still get away but that would involve hurting him, I didn’t want that.
“Keri,” he said trying to calm me. “You don’t know the area, you could get lost too. Edmund might still look young to you but he’s been a king for three years, he has become an amazing tracker. Plus he’ll have help. He’ll find her I promise.” I didn’t care. I should be out there looking for her. But I stopped struggling a little as I thought about his words. He took the opportunity to step closer to me and bring me into a real hug. His arms wrapped farther around me and he rested his cheek in my hair.
“But,” I whispered, searching for a good excuse, none came to me.
“I promise,” he whispered right into my ear. I melted. He sensed my defeat and he grabbed my shoulders to turn me towards him, then he wrapped his arms around me again. I was still so worried I didn’t give a shit about how nervous I should be right now. I pressed my cheek against his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“You’d better be right,” I muttered into his neck.
***
(Kristi’s POV)
God my head hurts. And fuck I’m cold. Oh, I see. I hit my head on the fallen tree as I fell, and now it’s raining. Of course it is. How long have I been laying here? Pretty long I’d guess, I seem to be in a puddle of mud. Nothing, feels right. I don’t think anything is broken… besides maybe my skull. I’m so dizzy and I haven’t even opened my eyes yet. I feel like I’m floating, but it’s a weird floating. It’s like I’m swaying, like a swing or something. And… there’s something keeping me up, there’s something hard across my back and under my knees. What the hell?
“Nugh,” I was able to force out. What was that supposed to be? A no?
“You’re ok, I’ve got you. I’m sorry,” a pained voice said from above me. I want my feet on the ground like no other. But then what? I don’t think I’m in any condition to walk.
“You found her,” another voice said.
“Yeah… would you mind…” the first voice trailed off.
“Sure,” the second voice said with a sigh. There were a few thuds from next to me, and then I felt myself get set on something with the first person’s arms around me. There was suddenly a lot of movement that I seriously didn’t like. We swayed side to side and rose very rapidly. I couldn’t help the pathetic whimper that escaped my lips.
“It’s ok… that won’t happen again,” the first person assured me. I leaned my head back against the person and passed out.