to see the forest as a comfortable home, and she could see the appeal to many of the interesting creatures that lurked in it. She preferred it much better than the stone walls of the Telmarine castle, which was built from greys and dark colours that didn't have the same vibrancy of the forests. She began to imagine herself living like the Narnians, living in a tree trunk and eating soup she would cook by herself from nature's materials. She would have fun loitering in the forest, taking daily swims in the crystal waters and might even make a few friends or two that she could have tea with at the weekends. She wondered if Narnian's drank tea, or if they had some special, magical brew. She made a note to ask Trufflehunter, later. If so, she would like to try some of his brew. She imagined it would be quite sweet and made with lots of honey.

Caspian was further ahead than her, not bothering to admire the sights of the forest and instead continuing onwards with an unceasing vigour, emitting the fact that he did indeed have a significant mission to fulfil and many important places to be. Although she could hear the ruffling of leaves behind her, undoubtedly created by Nikabrik and Trufflehunter, who lacked the art of being subtle, she busied herself on watching the trees that spread several houses tall, stretching their hands towards the golden sun. Birds sang and spoke in short bursts, mimicking laughter that Catherine had never heard from inside the walls of the Telmarine castle. She smiled at the fond memory of the melody her mother used to sing to her at bedtime. She hummed it to herself.

'I can hear you.'

Catherine stopped her song, momentarily thinking that Caspian hadn't liked her singing, and wanted a break from her altogether, but as she turned to see Trufflehunter and Nikabrik scoff, pivoting around to hide unsuccessfully behind a tree, Catherine let a goofy grin overtake her features, amused. Trufflehunter sighed deeply, noticing that she could, in fact, see them, and reappeared from his 'hiding place', Caspian turning to watch them, carefully.

'I just think that we should wait for the Kings and Queens.' He said, shyly.

Caspian spun around to send a dubious look to Catherine, who chuckled slightly and hid her face with her hands. She was very interested in these creatures, especially with their myths and legends. Caspian shook his head, hiding a smile that formed on his lips from his sister's small giggles and Nikabrik instantly frowned, scoffing as he made his way through the plants towards the pair.

'Fine! Go, then! See if the others will be as understanding!' Trufflehunter grumbled, huffing.

'Or maybe I can come with you,' Nikabrik added. 'I want to see you explain things to the minotaur's.'

Caspian shook his head in disbelief, ignoring their calls and exclaims and continued to walk. Catherine spun around, a grin igniting her features and her eyes brightening in an unexplained curiosity.

'Minotaur's?' She asked. 'They're real, too?'

Nikabrik nodded. 'And very bad tempered.'

'And not to mention big-!'

'-Huge!'

'What about Centaurs?' Caspian asked, somewhat curious about the Narnians, also. 'Do they still exist?'

Catherine smiled softly, knowing that Caspian believed more about the Narnians than he let on. She sent him a teasing glance, which he pointedly chose to ignore.

'Well, the Centaurs will probably fight on your side, but there's no telling what the others would do.' Trufflehunter announced, making Caspian stop, much to Catherine's surprise.

'And what about Aslan?'

Trufflehunter and Nikabrik turned around, sharing a knowing look between each other. Trufflehunter shrugged, and Catherine raised her eyebrows.

'How do you know so much about us?' Nikabrik asked, suspiciously narrowing his eyes into Caspian's direction.

Caspian shrugged. 'Stories.'

Trufflehunter gleamed. 'Your father told you stories about Narnia?'

Caspian shifts, seeming uncomfortable and looked towards Catherine, who pursed her lips.

'No,' Catherine answered. 'Our Professor. He-'

'Listen, I am sorry.' Caspian interrupted, making Catherine frown. 'These are not the type of questions you should be asking.'

He shoved past them, harshly, not taking any notice as Trufflehunter stayed behind, sniffing his nose towards the air. Catherine looked back, sensing trouble and frowned.

'Trufflehunter? What are you-?'

'What is it?' Nikabrik asked, his voice laced with an urgent concern.

'Human.'

Nikabrik raised an eyebrow. 'Them?'

'No.' Trufflehunter replied before gritting his teeth and nodding towards the midst of the forest. 'Them.'

Catherine's eyes immediately widened, her mouth opening in surprise as they watched a long line of soldiers appear over the horizon, shouting and gesturing to move silently towards their prey. They raised their crossbows, taking aim-

'There they are!'

'Shoot!'

'Run!' Catherine yelled out as the men let the arrows fly, whipping past her hair as they made their way through the high ferns and plants of the green forest. Caspian crouches, pulling Catherine down with him and pushing her in front of him, protecting her with his body as they ran through the trees. The soldiers continued to fire, arrows snapping the trees around them.

The Telmarine's shout as they shoot, aiming for their targets whether they were ready or not. They restring their crossbows, the firing pausing for a quick minute before aiming once more, pressing down for the sharp-tipped arrows to head towards them again.

Trufflehunter, lacking behind slightly, trips in the plants and falls, injured by one of the arrows. He gasps and groans in pain, making the others spin around to him, concerned.

'Oh, no.' Nikabrik mumbles, beginning to head towards him.

'Wait, I'll go!' Catherine pushes herself past her brother and puts out a hand, stopping him. She runs towards Trufflehunter, leaning down to avoid the incoming arrows that skim her hair. She reaches him, emerging herself into the grass for slight protection, beginning to analyse his wound. Trufflehunter sighs, deeply and weakly reaches up, passing her the white horn.

'Take it. Go!' He demanded. 'Its more important than I am.'

Catherine passed him a determined look as she hastily shoved it into her bag. 'I'm not leaving you.'

The Telmarine soldiers suddenly let out a harsh cry of pain, falling to the ground one-by-one as an invisible force ran through them. Catherine paused in her actions, watching confusedly.

'Catherine!' She heard Caspian yell. 'Get out of there!'

Snapping back to the moment, she threw Trufflehunter over her shoulder and continued to run, the Telmarine's focusing on the frightened invisible object that seemed to lurk in the plants that carpeted the floor. As Catherine reached him, she lay Trufflehunter carefully into Nikabrik's arms.

'Quick.' She instructed. 'Get him out of here.'

In front of her, Caspian drew his sword, positioning himself in front of them to battle the creature that quickly took down an entire Telmarine fleet. The last soldier threw down his crossbow, no longer bothered with his primary targets, and instead weakly hit the grass with his sword, seeming unsuccessful.

They watched, unamused and Catherine crouched down to Trufflehunter, who squeaked in fear and huddled into her chest. The last soldier let out a high-pitched yelp before collapsing, disappearing into the grass. The forest stilled, a silence overtaking the area.

Suddenly, a movement between the grass makes its way rapidly towards the four, who awaited patiently, Caspian pointing his sword in the correct direction. The creature revealed itself with a yell and Catherine felt her eyes widen as Caspian was violently thrown onto the floor, his sword falling by his side.

Catherine had never seen such a good fighter, never-mind such a dashingly dressed mouse.

It was safe to say she was impressed.

'A rat?'

The mouse swirled around, averting it's attention towards her and narrowing it's eyes, dangerously offended.

'What did you just call me?' The mouse gasped, offended. 'A rat? A rat? Is that what you think I am?'

Catherine blushed, profusely and turned away.

'Well, not exactly.' She mumbled, quietly. 'A talking rat, if we're being precise.'

'Rat's can't talk, stupid girl!' The mouse yelled out, as if it was a well known, educational fact. 'God, why do I even bother?!'

'Sorry.' Catherine muttered, turning away embarrassedly.

The mouse turned back to Caspian, pointing it's sharp, small sword in-between his eyes, who eyed it warily. 'Choose your last words carefully, Telmarine!'

Caspian instead, stared up to the mouse in a daze, vaguely unfamiliar with the thought of being attacked by a mouse with a hat.

'You...are a... mouse.'

As the mouse let out an explosive sigh, seeming disappointed, Catherine relaxed her tense body and rolled her eyes.

'I was hoping for something more original, but at least you got it right.' The mouse says, calmly with a glare towards Catherine, who shrunk and blushed, again. The mouse sighed before gesturing to the sword that lay by Caspian's side. 'Pick up your sword.'

'Uh...' Caspian blinked. 'No, thanks.'

'Pick it up!' The mouse demanded. 'I will not fight an unarmed man!'

'Which is why I might live longer if I choose not to cross blades with you, noble mouse.' Caspian replied with a smirk, finding the situation much more amusing than Catherine was, who currently felt her heart beating faster than humanly possible. He's going to get himself killed! By a Mouse!

'I said I would not fight you,' The mouse continued. 'I didn't say I'd let you live!'

'Reepicheep!' Trufflehunter calls out, addressing the soldier. 'Steady your blade!'

'Trufflehunter?' The mouse, Reepicheep, asked, seeming to relax slightly at the voice of his friend. 'I trust you have a very good reason for this untimely interruption.'

'He doesn't.' Nikabrik grumbled, gesturing for Reepicheep to continue. 'Go ahead.'

Catherine sent him a glare, which he meekly returned with a grunt and a shy shrug.

'He's the one who blew the horn.' Trufflehunter explained, making Reepicheep lower his blade his shock, his voice raising considerably.

'He what?'

'Let him come forwards.' A voice calls out, making everybody look up.

Standing grandly by the hill is a trio of Centaurs, who smile down at the small group, eyeing Caspian with a sceptical, yet respectful glance.

'This is the reason we have gathered.'