04

A GIFT

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It had been well over a few hours since nightfall had left them and they were back on their feet and tracking over the vast lands. Lucy currently strolled at Alex's side, hand in hand, as they looked down to the frozen river that they had just talked about. The youngest human ran to the side where she saw a purple flower sticking through the snow.

"Lucy! No!" Alexandra shouted over and rushed to her side, the others watched in shock at the girl's outburst, Lucy looked up sadly, "These aren't just any flowers, this is a Drowsy Pudina. One sniff of this flower and you'll fall asleep for a hundred years, if not more."

Lucy backed away from the flower and into Peter's legs who looked at Alexandra as she kneeled next to the purple buds of the blossom. The girl covered it with snow so that any other unsuspecting Narnian wouldn't be fooled by the sweet colours and alluring aroma that radiated from the pollen. She didn't dare risk pulling to flower up, more would just sprout in its place.

And they were off again. The group of six, that consisted of four humans and the two beavers, left their prints on the snow that had set on the frozen lake that had been that way for exactly one hundred years. Alexandra walked away ahead of the group, she felt like the only one that could keep up with the strenuous walking in the weather. The cold didn't nip at her skin in the same way it froze the others.

"Come on, humans! While we are young," Mr Beaver shouted behind him at the three Pevensie children that seemed to take much longer to walk than the rest. The white-haired girl even heard the children mumble between them as Peter picked his youngest sister on his back to keep up with them.

The ice below them seemed to shake as if something was banging on the surface, Alex swivelled her body to look behind her as her grey eyes set on what appeared to be a carriage speeding their way. But she didn't feel the ice pulling in her chest, the type that she would feel whenever the Witch close to her.

"No! Behind you! it's her!" Mrs Beaver screamed at the three children who gasped out and picked up their speed dramatically and sprint even faster along to the treeline where they would be able to hide.

"Run! Run!" the beavers yelled in unison.

"I am running!" Lexi replied and made it to the tree line first before finding a ledge that would give them shelter, "Here!"

"Inside! Dive! Dive!" Mr Beaver shouted and fought the urge to push Peter down under the ledge so that they could all hide.

She pulled Peter by the sleeve of his jacket so that he would hurry up faster, she feared what the White Witch would do if they found the children but also what she would do to the grey-eyed girl for going against her wishes, "Quick! Quick, quick, quick!"

Above them, they could all hear the sleigh slow to a stop and the bells stop jingling to a complete silence around them. Not even the wind dared to make a sound. All pairs of eyes landed in front of them to where they could see a shadow reflecting onto the mound of snow, some of the snow dropping from the ledge as there was a movement from above. It all stopped.

They could only watch and wait as the shadow retreated, Alex even found her hand going to her hip where her sword would often be resting, finding a handful of her shirt instead. She should have grabbed her sword when she left the castle, "Maybe she's gone," Lucy broke the silence with a whisper.

"I suppose I'll go look," Petter offered and shifted as if ready to move but was stopped by Alexandra's hand she pushed his chest backwards.

"And what good would that do Narnia?" she asked with a brow raising.

"I'll go," Mr Beaver proposed and got ready, his wife's paw shooting out as Alex's had.

A sob almost ripped from her lips, "Well, neither are you, Beaver."

"Thanks, sweetheart," his paw rested on hers before he pushed away and climbed up the ledge to see what was happening from above them where there was nothing but silence until there were rustles and footprints ascending their way. Then is all stopped. Anticipation froze in the air with their stunted breaths, no one expected Beaver to stick his head down with a grin.

"Come out! Come out!" Lucy screamed as the Narnian beamed their way, "I hope you've all been good 'cause there's someone here to see ya!"

Peter was reluctant to let either of his sisters go up, it wasn't until Alexa made a move to look at what Beaver had been talking about that he finally took Lucy's hand and helped her onto the rocks. They had all feared the worst not even moments ago, but they found Father Christmas leaning on his sleigh, hands on hips and a grin under the whisps of his grey beard. A belated chuckle left his old lips at the smiles on all their faces.

"Merry Christmas, sir," Lucy stepped forward with perhaps the biggest smirk of them all that showed of her teeth and the gaps between them but she didn't care, not one bit.

"It certainly is, Lucy, since you've arrived," he replied with his gruff, yet joyous, a voice that calmed every nerve of Peter's body.

Susan turned to his brother, the usual argument of unbelieving leaving her mouth, "Look, I've put up with a lot since we've been here, but this..."

"We thought you were the Witch," Peter cut his sister off and stepped forward once to be closer to Lucy who continued to stare upwards at the man.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry about that, but in my defence, I have been driving one of these much longer than the Witch."

"I thought there was no Christmas in Narnia," Susan muttered and let her glance trace down the reindeer that would pull the sleigh.

Alexandra also let her eyes trail down the animals in delight, the only other time that she had seen a deer was in the Witch's wicked maze of stone animals that she seemed to collect. The girl pried her attention back to the man, "No. Not for a long time. But the hope that you have brought, your Majesties, is finally starting to weaken the Witch's power. Still, I dare say that you could do with these."

Father Christmas pulled a large bag from the back of his carriage and let it fall on the ground with a laugh, "Presents!" Lucy chimed in joy.

He pulled something and handed it to the girl, "The juice of the fire-flower. One drop will cure any injury. And I hope you will never need to use it."

"Thank you, sir," she replied with her voice lowering, her attention going to the dagger and elixir that she now owned, "But I don't think I could be brave enough."

"I'm sure you could. But battles are ugly affairs," His hands returned to the bag and pulled out a bow with a matching quiver full of arrows, "Susan. Trust in this bow and it will not easily miss."

Alex felt her pale lips perk up to a satisfied smile as Susan spoke up once more, "What happened to 'battles are ugly affairs'?"

A loud laugh filled the air from the man as he smiled at her, pulling yet another gift out for her which appeared to be a white and gold horn, "Though you don't seem to have a problem making yourself heard, blow on this and wherever you are, help will come."

"Thanks."

In his hands, he now held a sword with a red hilt, even a red shield to match it, "Peter. The time to use these may be near at hand."

Peter pulled the sword out of the hilt that would strap around his waist later on, the sheer sound of metal on metal was thrilling to the white-haired girl who had experience with weapons of that kind and loved the sensation of the weight in her hands.

"Thank you, sir."

Alexandra's hands fiddled around in front of her rocking body, doing everything to avoid everyone's glances to her that made her uneasy just thinking about all the eyes on her. "Alexandra Mabel Dawson," Father Christmas called over to her and caught her attention, "You too deserve a gift-" the girl's lips parted to protest but he silenced her patiently "-No, child. Whatever you have done in the past does not define you, all of Narnia forgives your previous acts because we know the cause of them. It is all the Witch's doing, none of it yours."

He offered her a weapon that she had dreamed about for many Narnian years. An axe with the brightest of handles in gold and red material, her first guess was that it was silk because of the shine to it but she knew otherwise quick enough as soon as her palm wrapped around it firmly; feeling the weight under her fingers. But that wasn't all, within the silver of the iron, where the two separate sides of the blades met, she could see the most intricate designs.

"No matter how far that axe may fly, it will always join your side once again. Here," he also handed her the smallest silver locket that she had ever seen in her life, "This is not for you to open, but for you to keep around your neck at all times."

"Why can't I open it?" she asked as she admired the single purple gem that was surrounded with an engraving of a flower as if the purple was the centre.

"This will aid you in the years to come. None of us, not even time itself, know when that will be."

"Thank you," she beamed up at the man, the smile sending a wave through her whole body but she didn't realise it, "Really, thank you."

The man turned back to all of the children to leave Alexandra to inspect the axe in her hand, testing the weight in her palm, "These are tools, not toys. Bear them well and wisely. Now, I must be off. Winter is almost over and things to pile up when you've been gone a hundred years. Long live Aslan! And Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!"

"See you next year!"

"Goodbye!"

"Thank you!"

Lucy turned to her siblings with humour glossing over her face, "I told you he was real."

"He said winter was almost over," Peter muttered and for the first time in many years, Alex agreed. Although the snow wasn't cold to her or the flames of the fire weren't warm, she could sense the change in her air around her, "You know what that means?"

Alexandra's hand raised to her chest, "No more ice."

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They had almost raced to the waterfall in hopes to beat the truth, that being that the ice was going to melt which would leave them with a river with one of the strongest currents that Narnia had ever seen. But they were too late, below them, they could all see the ice cracking and melting into water with fragments of ice floating down. It was hard to hear anything besides the harsh cracking but it was just a miracle that the waterfall itself hadn't melted.

"We need to cross!" Peter shouted over the noise, "Now!"

"Don't beavers make dams?" Lucy asked the Narnians who also looked down with fear but Alexandra let a giggle leave her lips which she tried to hide, yet it was heard by the Pevensie boy.

"I'm not that fast!" Mr Beaver replied as Alexa took a stone in her hand and threw it down the small decline that they would have to climb down in order cross the river, testing to see if there was any loose snow that would make them slip and potentially harm themselves. 

"Come on," Lexa muttered to Lucy and took her hand as her two older siblings continued to fight back and forth. The Dawson girl would have listened to it if they weren't battling not just the White Witch, but also time.

A loud wolf howl ripped through the stone-cold air and caught them off guard which almost resulted in Lexi slipping down the hill but she caught Peter's outstretched hand without a second guess, their eyes met briefly but there were more important things.

Peter helped the three girls, Alexandra going last, jumping down the rocks and sprinting to the river which melted more and more with every passing second; the cracking only growing louder. Peter was about to take a step to test if it was safe for his sisters and his new friends but Alex pulled his arm back with a sad smile.

"Let me, I won't feel the cold," she muttered and put her foot on the ice as it shook and water squirted up the sides, Peter instantly pulled her back to where it was safe.

"Maybe we should let the beavers go first?" he asked her to which she nodded her head as a reply, still slightly in shock that she could have fallen in.

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I hope that y'all are enjoying so far!