wasn't something that Peter Pevensie believed he would be doing this morning, especially not to save an unsuspecting dwarf who seemed very ungrateful for surviving the event. As his siblings made their way towards him, meeting him at the edge of the water, and Lucy cut the ropes that bound the dwarf, allowing him to spit out some of the water that managed to cloud his lungs, and the dwarf stood, glaring harshly at the four children. There was a beat of silence.

'Drop him?'

Peter sighed in irritation, rolling his eyes and looking back towards the water, perhaps debating whether it would be morally acceptable to throw him back in.

'That's the best you could come up with?' The dwarf exclaimed with a dry, humourless laugh.

The youngest of the group frowned, confused at his behaviour. 'A simple thank you would suffice.'

'They were doing fine drowning me without your help!'

'Well then, maybe we should have let them.' Peter said, turning back to look down at the dwarf with a cold, irritated glare. The dwarf growled.

'Why were they trying to kill you, anyway?' Asked Susan, a fair brunette with a face littered of freckles.

'They're Telmarines.' He replied, spitting out the name with distaste. 'It's what they do.'

'What are-?'

'Telmarines?' The younger boy spoke up, his eyebrows raised in disbelief. 'In Narnia?'

The dwarf scoffed, sending them a strange glare. 'Where have you been the last few hundred years?'

The young girl grimaced, a soft smile on her face. 'It's a long story.'

The dwarf shook his head, debating in his head whether he could trust someone who didn't seem to know anything about the country they were currently standing in. It was then that he looked up, the four siblings seeming to glint in the sunlight, their aura gleaming like a hero's smile. It was then that it clicked.

He groaned, loudly.

'Oh, you've got to be kidding me.' He grunted, his eyes wide and filled with skeptism. 'You're it? You're the Kings and Queens of old?'

The Pevensie siblings smirked and smiled, slightly, sharing a knowing look between them before Peter stepped forwards, a confident, smug expression on his face.

'High King Peter, the Magnificent.' He introduced, extending out a hand. The dwarf blinked, unimpressed.

'You could've left out the last bit.' Susan muttered, slightly embarrassed by her brother's introduction. She blushed and turned away, making the dwarf laugh out.

'Probably.' He nodded, chuckling, staring at Peter's hand as if it were covered in mud.

Peter awkwardly retracted it and extended his spine, regaining his confident grandeur as he grew his sword. 'You might be surprised.'

The dwarf chuckled, once again. 'Oh, you don't want me to do that.'

'I won't be doing anything to you.' Peter smiled. 'He will.'

He gestured towards his younger brother, who happily obliged, smiling and drawing his blade. The dwarf gave a glare to Peter, as he handed him his sword. The dwarf grunted and the sword dropped in his hand from the weight, dramatically falling into the sand. The brother, Edmund Pevensie, shot a smile to his siblings, who chuckled amusedly.

Suddenly, the dwarf drew the sword up and swung abruptly towards Edmund, who barely managed to swing out of the way before defending his shot. The youngest girl, Lucy, gasped as she watched her brother get hit by the dwarf's elbow, bruising his nose and falling backwards as the dwarf chuckled, cruelly. Of course, this only spurred Edmund's confidence and desire to win, and he fought back harder, eventually disarming the dwarf with ease, allowing him to fall to the floor and look up with wide-eyes to see Edmund press the blade down towards his face.

'Beards and bedsteads!' He dwarf announced. 'Maybe that horn worked afterall.'

Edmund withdrew his sword and Susan stepped forwards, curious and sceptical.

'What horn?'

...

that definitely didn't support his body in the way it should. He awoke with a jolt, barely managing to sit up fully without threatening to attack the ceiling with his body, allowing the entire house of the tree to collapse onto it's inhabitants. He had on the same blouse he was previously wearing, a bandage wrapped around his head and making his hair stick to his face. He snapped his eyes around the room, jolting dramatically as he took in his surroundings, the miniature furniture making him feel uneasy and uncertain. He sighed, cradling his head before touching the bandage. He tears it off with an impatient grunt.

'I'll just give them some soup. They should be coming around soon.'

Curious, Caspian squints his eyes at the voices and slowly rises from the voice, sneaking over to the door that leads down towards the kitchen. He turns to his left to see Catherine, awake and brimming, listening to their hosts speak in the kitchen. She turns to him and presses a finger to her lips.

'Well, I don't think I hit them hard enough.'

'They're Telmarines, not some lost puppies! You said you were going to get rid of them!'

'No, I said I'd take care of them. We can't kill them now, I just bandaged the boys head. It-it would be like murdering a guest!'

Caspian's eyes widened and he snapped his head to his sister, wanting to communicate how dangerous he felt the situation was, and expecting the same response back. But instead, Catherine was watching the pair with a calm and quiet posture, as if she hadn't just heard the fact that three feet away, two strangers were talking about murdering them. Caspian shook his head and knitted his eyebrows, confused before turning back towards the conversation.

'Oh, and how do you think his friends are treating their guest?'

'Trumpkin knew what he was doing. It's not their fault.'

Caspian turned back to Catherine, tilting his head. She disagreed, shaking her head and glaring at him. He sighed, deeply and decided not to listen, instead running from his position and making his way to the door that rested beside the table.

Catherine watched, amused as he gets intercepted by the short man, who she now interprets to be a dwarf, who kicks the table in front of his way, effectively blocking his only way of exit. The badger, who seemed to be flustered by the boys' sudden appearance and his friends aggressive stance, knocks the soup from his hand and gasps, dramatically. By the door, Catherine sighs and shakes her head, disapprovingly, watching as Caspian looks around for a weapon, grabbing an iron stick from the fireplace.

'Cas!' Catherine scolds, revealing herself from her hiding place. She frowns as the badger steps in the way of the dwarf and Caspian, who have begun to duel. Caspian scrambles back towards the wall, gripping onto Catherine in fear.

'Stop! Stop!' The badger pleads. 'Hold it, no, no!'

'I told you we should have killed him when we had the chance!' The dwarf snarled, hissing towards his friend.

'You know why we can't!'

Caspian swallows and nods his head towards the badger. 'If we're taking a vote, I'm with him.'

'We can't let them go!' The dwarf exclaims, ignoring Caspian's comment. 'They've seen us!'

He snarls and lunges towards Caspian again, making him fall onto Catherine's knee.

'That's enough, Nikabrik!' The badger yells. 'Or do I have to sit on your head again?'

Nikabrik remains silent, sheepishly looking away as Catherine sends him a curious look, raising her eyebrows in suspicion. The badger sighs and turns to Caspian, picking up his broken bowl that had previously shattered on Caspian's surprise appearance. Catherine felt her heart lurch for his sad expression and leant down to pick up a few pieces of broken shards to lay on the small table.

'I spent half the morning on that soup.' He mumbled, shaking his head.

Caspian, panting heavily, stares at the pair. Catherine turns back to them and narrows her eyes, curiously. 'What are you?'

'You know, it's funny that you would ask that.' The badger responds. 'You'd think more people would know a badger when they see one.'

Catherine frowned in irritation. 'I'm not a barbarian.'

'You're Narnians.' Caspian breathes out, dreamily. 'You're supposed to be extinct.'

'Sorry to disappoint you.' Nikabrik grumbles, taking his place back at the table as the badger places two, tiny bowls of soup at the table with a smile.

'There you go,' He announces. 'Still hot.'

'Since when did we become a boarding house for Telmarine soldiers, Trufflehunter?'

'Oh, we are not soldiers.' Catherine says, standing up and shaking her head. 'I am Princess Catherine the third, and this is my brother, Prince Caspian. The Tenth.'

The dwarf was silent, surveying the siblings with a calculating gaze that made Caspian shrink slightly. Catherine smiled at him, kindly, patiently waiting for his response. She hoped he wouldn't evict them.

'What are you doing here?'

'We are running away.' Caspian responds, instantly. The house owners share a look and Catherine turns to her brother, shooting him a weak smile and grabbing his hand for reassurance. As she squeezes it, gently, he feels his heart beat decrease, relaxing slightly.

'Our uncle has always wanted the throne.' Catherine sighed, beginning to explain. 'I suppose we've only lived this long because he couldn't have an heir of his own.'

'Oh.' Trufflehunter's face falls, drastically. 'That changes things.'

'Yes.' Nikabrik says, decisively. 'It means we don't have to kill you ourselves.'

Catherine frowns and Caspian instantly stands up, spinning around to retrieve his stuff, which is sat on the chair by the door.

'You're right.' He says, as if it explains things. Catherine stands, watching him with a confused expression.

'Where are you going?' She asks.

'Our uncle will not stop until we are dead.' Caspian sighed, sending her a pitiful glance before handing her the remains of her clothes, folded into a pile. 'We cannot stay here.'

'But.. you can't leave.' Trufflehunter pleads, standing forwards. 'You're meant to save us.'

Caspian ignores this, but Catherine spins around, curiously. Gently, she places a hand on Caspian's arm, instantly stopping him in his tracks as Trufflehunter picks up the white horn, carefully, the same horn that Caspian blew from.

'Don't you know what this is?'

Caspian and Catherine shared a glance. While Caspian gulped, embarrassed that he had used a tool he had no idea what it controlled, Catherine turned back with confidence, gulping slightly and tilting up her chin.

'No idea.'