What Next?

[Reepicheep]

Reepicheep the Mouse, soldier of Aslan, knight of Narnia, and personal guard, advisor, and assistant to King Caspian the Tenth, could not have been happier to have all of the kings and queens currently residing in Narnia. He had spent the day scurrying - no, not scurrying; that was too undignified a word - surveying the castle and offering aid to anyone who needed it. This was his honor and duty. But he had been, in most cases, politely turned away. So, at the moment, he stood balanced precariously on one of the castle's turrets, gazing out into the distance and reflecting on the numerous and exciting events of the past few days.

If he had not had his tail restored to him so mercifully by Aslan, this feat would be even more dangerous than it already was. But with the tail, he was safely balanced. Instead of looking down at the ground - which would have been both satisfactory (he was finally tall!) and frightening (the castle was quite high) - he looked out towards the distant sea. Someday, he hoped to sail on it all the way to the utter east. But for now, he was content to remain here, at the castle, awaiting the moment when his king might need him.

[Caspian X]

The day had passed, and meetings had ended. In fact, it was dark already, and up here in the tower, the world's wonder could been seen with the naked eye. Caspian could never quite get over just how lovely the view of the stars were from the astronomy tower was; it never failed to take his breath away. Although, of course, anyone finding out would be cheerfully beaten to death. It was devastatingly beautiful, no matter how much of pansy he himself viewed him as whenever the thought came to him . But he wouldn't trade it for the world, though. Perhaps, someday, he would find someone to share this with. Susan. The Queen Susan. Casting a sigh, he sat down and stared out. Perhaps he'd wait until midnight, perhaps he wouldn't. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to be.

Right--so that was a lie, but Caspian didn't have anywhere else he had to be where he also wanted to be. Susan was off somewhere, he was sure, maybe with her siblings or advisers. She never failed to distract him, as stunning as the view itself, which was why Caspian went out of his way to avoid her whenever he knew he needed to buckle down and get some work done. Typical, though, that when he did that Susan disappeared from view. Well, at least he got to be alone...

Ah, the man should have known better than to jinx it. Caspian sat up soundlessly at the sound of the door opening, than shutting once more, raising an eyebrow at the sight of his right hand man...err, mouse. Right-hand-mouse. Narnia was everything he never had the courage to dream off. Caspian watched with amusement as Reepicheep started balancing dangerously on the stone turrets, looking for all in the world like a playful child.

But Caspian was not about to make the mistake of understanding the creature once more. He coughed lightly to alert his knight to his presence, than walked forward to stand by him-thankfully, both feet on the ground. "They finally allowed you a break?" he asked jokingly, knowing house the knight spent the last couple of days scurrying around the entire castle.

(woot! meh first caspi post xp)

[Reepicheep]

((Yay! Thank you for gracing me with your presence, *bows*))

"My liege!" Reepicheep gasped, nearly falling off the turret in his excitement. He threw his arms out and flailed wildly for what seemed like a long moment. Once balanced, he hopped off with as much grace as he could muster and gave his king a sweeping bow. He straightened up, drawing himself up to his full height (it wasn't much) and looking up at Caspian with eyes filled with contempt. "Why, they did nothing of the sort. Whoever they is," he added with an indignant snort. "I was just... surveying the land for possible assassins. Those vile prisoners may have yet escaped."

He turned back, only to be met with the stone wall in his face. Oh, how he detested being so small at times. He didn't really feel like climbing back up onto the turret, so he gazed gravely at Caspian as if he had never looked away. Other than the sea, he didn't find anything particularly exciting about the landscape, but the man beside him seemed to think otherwise. He gave a little wistful sigh.

"If I may," he began tentatively, "what are you doing up here, my liege? Shouldn't you be attending her Majesty?" As it left his whiskered lips, Reepicheep knew he had probably said the wrong thing, and his tail drooped slightly with this realization. He knew how much Caspian cared for the queen; everyone in Narnia and Telmar knew. But few had brought it up. Reepicheep, however, prided himself on keeping his king's best interest in mind, and the best one at the moment seemed the pursuit of her majesty. He paused, deep in thought. "...Or perhaps that is why you are here," he mused.

[Caspian X]

(you are most welcome, good sir ^.- *pats mr. mouse* )

Caspian made a small smile pull up the corners of his lips, looking aside as he ran the fingers of his right hand through his dark hair to hide his irritation. And in his own way, the young king had a lot to be irate about. The fact that his knight couldn't magically turn into his lady, for starters. Not that he'd ever presume to call Queen Susan that already. But of course, if asked, Caspian would just say that he was aggrieved that his knight still refused to call him by his given name. Honesty still wasn't quite what you'd call his strong suit.

Turning, his eyes widened in surprise as Reepicheep flayed about for a moment, a millimeter away from falling off his little playing perch. Caspian's arm shot out, although not quite touching the mouse, an inch from grabbing and pulling him to safety. Reepicheep would undoubtedly get on a high horse for treating him in such a manner, but he'd rather than than have him fall. But he thankfully found it unneeded, trying to draw his hand back casually as his knight jumped off and onto safe ground, having recaptured his balance.

Caspian tried no to smirk at Reepicheep's faux-graceful bow, an almost non-existent smirk that only widened with the mouse's indignant words. "Of course you were," he said agreeably. Angering the other-further-was not too high on his to-do list.

Raising his eyebrows at his knight's surprising straight forwardness, his lips stretched wider into an all together more friendly smile, looking almost speculatively into the distance, considering the answer to Reepicheep's question. He opened his mouth to finally do so, however, but the little creature cut across him, his voice as muted in thought as his surely would have been. Caspian glanced down at the mouse in a mixture of amusement and aggravation, the first over powering the latter at the sight of his knight's drooped tale.

Caspian placed his hand flat on the floor for the mouse with intention to prop him back up on the turrets, as dangerous as it was. Having to speak for any amount of time to the ground was not a highly pleasant endeavor. "That was my original intention," he admitted, trying not to show how much doing so cost him. Men were supposed to be stoic, or so he'd been told all his life. "But I can't seem to find the good queen anywhere. Dratted woman must be off gossiping with her ladies elsewhere, or perhaps curled up with one of those books of hers," he joked, which was far better, in his opinion, than admitting that he was feeling that she was too busy for him.

[Reepicheep]

((Ah, this is hilarious! You play Caspian very well, I must say. I love how he interacts with Reep ))

Reepicheep did not know much, but he did know a thing or two about mercy. He had been taught it quite well, actually, by a very good friend. And he did wish that he could put Caspian out of his misery, but he didn't know how. It would be merciful to leave him alone to think on the subject, but it just might be better to allow him to talk things out. Reepicheep also had trouble finding people, especially since most of them couldn't see him. One of the things that he adored and respected about Caspian was that he really paid attention to all of his subjects, even the smallest ones.

He had seen Caspian try to retract his arm when he turned around. For a moment, he stared in stunned silence at the arm, now placed innocently at the young man's side. He was simply bursting with annoyance.

"Did you - did you just try to... catch me?" he cried out, visibly indignant. "My liege, if I am too much of a fool to keep my own balance, I daresay my life would not be worth saving! It has long been a dream of mine to sail to the utter East, and there would be no such hand to catch me should I fall from a mast!" He was nearly trembling in anger - not at Caspian, but at himself.

Calming himself, he glanced at Caspian's waiting hand, thinking on what had been said. Though he had gotten up onto the turret himself before, and could easily do so again, he decided to humor his king, if only to make him feel better. He was clearly in a foul mood (he had called the queen a "dratted woman"!), and would need Reepicheep's help to get out of it. He held his head up high as he stepped into the proferred hand, trying not to notice what he was doing, for it was rather humiliating.

"Books?" Reepicheep spat. "Pah! I laugh at books! They are nothing but silly fables. The real adventure is out here!" He motioned to the sea - which he could see once more, he was glad to say - roiling below with a grand, sweeping gesture. "Us men, my liege, are the ones who are having the best time. Books - they are just pretend."

He would soundly ridicule anything, even his own whiskers, if it meant cheering up Caspian and distracting him temporarily from the sadness he felt over Queen Susan. While Reepicheep was a firm believer in the kings and queens of old, he had first pledged his loyalty to Caspian and felt it unfair that Susan was treating him in such a way. Of course, he would not voice this, for to insult a lady was a grave sin and clear violation of the laws of knightly behavior which Reepicheep upheld so astutely.

"I wager she would much rather be out here with you, my liege," he added more quietly.

[Caspian X]

[Psh. You know that I think how you play Reep is just way better. Thanks, though. Lmao, this thread is just awesomeness-they were meant to have a thread with something along these lines XD]

Ah, caught. His features clouded over with flashes of emotions, not entirely sure which would be most effective in getting him out of trouble. In moments, half a dozen of expressions flitted and took control of his features for about half a second each, changing in rapid succession between sheepish, apologetic, stern, amused, derisive and annoyed. Caspian decided to stay with the latter, mirroring the mouse's contorted features below him. Oh, in the name of all that is good--was the mouse actually quivering with rage?

Caspian flinched back, unease breaking through his mask of faked anger. The mouse was silent just than, and despite feeling uncomfortable enough under Reepicheep's glare to wish for the later to speak-Caspian knew he'd have no such desires once the mouse actually began to do so. "I...no...what? Of course not!" He argued weakly, a hint of amusement tinging his features. The rest, of course, just seemed frozen with a guilty surprise. Caspian stared back at mouse, which indeed seemed indignant enough to explode right than. Time froze for one precious instant, which was broken by Caspian's roar of laughter. "Calm, good knight," he said , still chuckling softly once he recaptured his breath. And whomever said that everyday court life was boring? "Don't let arrogance conquer you-I of all people should know that doing so would never end well." His own arrogance had Caspian making grave mistakes in war, which he only overcame by admitting his weaknesses.

"Oh, Reepicheep. I'll consent to even having you tied to the mast to keep from falling, if needs be," he shook his head, fully knowing that he'd be about to get another talking-to just for that. Ah. Now he could see that Reepicheep was indeed quivering with anger, and the image amused him to no end. Trust his loyal knight to cheer him up so, although admittedly at his own expense.

Eyebrows raised in challenge, Caspian wondered if it was not well done of him to be so straight forward in his service. If there was anything the proud mouse hated, it was pity and charity. But he just knew that Reepicheep was warring with himself, caught between berating his liege further or helping him out of his mood. Something had to be said about Reepicheep's unswerving loyalty, although the mouse kept his head up stubbornly, looking away as Caspian raised him up to the turrets.

Still not of height, Caspian knew that he'd be pushing it to sit on his knees to see eye to eye with the good fellow. It would be amusing just to do it as a joke, however, but Caspian couldn't imagine his knight beyond murder if it was his dignity he was trying to save.

The knight's theatrics was almost irritating to endure, but he knew that it was all in his name. Caspian managed with a friendly roll of his eyes, hands gripping the stone turrets as he followed his knight's gaze. "I, too, share not her obsession with them," he admitted, no matter how often he faked interest in his lady's bizarre need for the most useless scrap of information. "But whatever makes her happy, is it not?" Caspian chuckled once more at Reepicheep's gesture, and some more at his words. "Take care not to mention that to the good queens. Queen Lucy is adventurous enough as she is, I think." He shook her head mock seriously. "And even you probably know better than to mock Queen Susan's precious books in front of her.

Silence took hold of the conversation for a moment, and Caspian knew that he could so easily pretend that he hadn't heard that. But the burden of his curiosity was overwhelming. "And what makes you think that?" he asked quietly, hating the weakness in his voice.

[Reepicheep]

((When you told me you'd reply, I had to stay up and see what it was!))

It was quite obvious that, embarrassed to have been caught, Caspian was resorting to lying. Well. If he was upset enough to do such a thing, Reepicheep did not wish for it to be on his own conscience. He would hate to be the source of unhappiness of any sort when his king appeared to be already suffering from a great deal of it.

Reepicheep sniffed, but backed down. "You speak truly, my liege," he admitted, his tail twitching as if in shame to remind him to be humble. "My deepest apologies."

Instead of facing his king, who was still regretfully taller than Reepicheep was, he looked to the sea, as he always seemed to do. But at his next words, he turned to look at Caspian out of pure surprise.

"Tied?" he repeated, then muttered, "Like a common sea rat," but said no more of the same. All he had to do was look at his tail to remind him that his honor was not the most important thing in life. "Gladly, for you, sire," he added finally, in a slightly defeated voice.

Reepicheep blinked up at Caspian at the mention of Susan and her books. "I should think you made her quite happy," he mused. "Ah, then perhaps it is a good thing it is just the two of us, after all."

"Because you are a good man," he said simply. "A noble knight, a strong king. Every moment spent in your company is a pleasure, my liege."

Reepicheep wondered himself why people were they way they were - where her majesty Queen Lucy's bravery, or her majesty Queen Susan's kindness, or his majesty King Caspian's strength came from. There were many things he wished to find in the Utter East, and truly, this was only one component of his heart's desire. The other part was mainly to see Aslan again and thank him profusely, but he also dreamed of seeing fallen comrades. And while Reepicheep did not fear death, he had evaded it more often than one might think a mouse would be able to, and had grown quite comfortable with the idea.

He wondered what Caspian thought of all this, if everyone else thought about such profound things too. From such a height, it seemed quite possible, particularly in the knowledge that this turret left only a few inches' worth of room for error. He decided to find out.

"If I may - what is it you most want to do? Before we...?"

He trailed off. Normally, knights did not discuss death; it was an assumed and oft-forgotten part of life. But they thought about it. And few knew besides Reepicheep what near-death was like. If not for Lucy's cordial, no one would. So perhaps he thought of things no one else did, he couldn't be sure. But Caspian seemed to need a good long discussion to distract him, so who was Reepicheep not to offer an opportunity?

[Caspian X]

[no, you couldn't! lmao, you should have told me-I did something else before turning to this. Anyway, what do you think? Ek, sorry. Went a little overboard with this one...]

Caspian was honestly-if a bit unfairly-surprised at Reepicheep's graceful admission, and smiled gently, awkwardly, to try to appease him. Reepicheep had done nothing but to try an aide him, and this was what he did in return? Oh fie for shame."Of course I do," he scoffed mockingly, than smiled once more. "I speak not to condemn you, but in gentle reminder. It is what is required of friendship," he answered, waving a hand in dismissal of his knight's apology, which was truly not required of the situation.

As men were want to do in the face of such a precarious situation, Caspian too looked off into the distance. The sea seemed to be in some private turmoil, and he wondered, a hint poetically if it was a sign of what was to come. But even had not the required self control to keep from looking down at his knight to read his expression as he said those half-joking, half-serious words, and had to bite back a grin at the look of pure shock on the mouse's face. It was a note to how far he had gone that Caspian, the unimaginative little brat he once was, could now even read expression on furry creature's faces.

"If needs be," he repeated himself, mischief glinting in his eyes, although he tried at the same time to look apologetic. There was a battle lost before it even began. Caspian snorted in a most un-royal manner. "A safe common sea rat, may I remind you," he cautioned the other, smirking. Caspian had no idea rats even went on the sea, but somehow, wasn't all too surprised. Caspian looked at the creature in surprise at the reluctant tone is his voice, sounding almost defeated, if Caspian considered him capable of such a thing. "Good to know, my man," he said cheerily, although he knew he'd never actually force Reepicheep into such a thing if it would upset him so. But safety was indeed an issue, and Caspian would do everything in his power to keep him safe, like he would with any of his men. Reepicheep was closer to him than most, however, not that Caspian would ever voice that. Some things were better remained unspoken.

Caspian was filled with a deep, more than slightly embarrassing flush of pleasure at the thought of doing anything that would have pleased Queen Susan-much less have it voiced and admitted by others. He managed to keep his face blank with sheer practice, despite the slightest widening of his lips. "I should hope so," he agreed, thinking of how many times he had spent with her, trying to do just that. "That is too true," he grinned, wondering when the last time was that he'd have time for such manly talks. The ladies of his old country were submissive and demure. And, well, at Narnia he'd get his neck snapped at even suggesting such a thing. But that made no proper substitute for the real thing.

He raised his eyebrows, but merely gave a deep nod of respect. "Your view of me is ridiculously biased, may I say, but I thank you for it nonetheless, " he said, slightly taken aback. He knew his words to be at least a little rude, and regretted it, but he never knew how to take compliments. "I may just say the same of you-a more honorable knight I have never the pleasure to meet, much less fight alongside," he added, almost as if in an afterthought.

Caspian fell silent once more, truly a man of little words. But when he did speak, it was usually with deep insight and honesty. Usually. The silence was not uneasy, but relaxed, both men leaning into their own thoughts. For Caspian, it was a trip back in time. To his uncle's castle-for it was never his, come to think of it-to first meeting the Pevensies, and now back to where he began. Caspian was still unsure whether he was deserving of it all. He looked down in surprise as he seemed to have done so many times that day at the muted interruption. "Before we die, you mean?' he asked, cutting straight to the point. "Live," he said simply, smiling more to himself than at the figure before him.

"It is not every man's goal, to feel truly alive for but a moment before he died?" he asked, a quiet fire burning in his eyes. "I want to carry out my responsibilities to the best I can, in a way only I can pull off." Aslan, as surprising as it seemed, had chosen him amongst so many others. There must have been a reason. "I want to bring happiness to as many people as I can, in the hope that I'll get in return the same thing."

In short, although something he could never voice, he wanted to do what he can. He wanted to liven the world in a way only he can-if he only knew what said way was. "How the mind boggles," he smiled. "I'll do what I can in this world-than I guess do the same with the next," he tried to answer, thinking of all his fallen comrades and enemies alike. "And you?" He asked in return, wondering what had brought on such a peculiar topic. It had graced so many's minds, of course, but view say it out. "What more could we want, when we have so much more than we had ever dared to dream."

[Reepicheep]

((No worries, on either account. Excellent post, the bit about the sea was particularly lovely!))

Reepicheep nodded at Caspian's words. "I must be too often reminded to be humble, I fear," he agreed. "I thank you. To have your friendship is the highest honor, my liege."

To his credit, the Mouse did his utmost to remain silent at the king's next words. It would not do to follow a vow of humility with a complaint that he was being disrespected. He supposed, grudgingly, that anyone, even a man, could be tied to a mast, not just a short creature, and so decided not to take this as an insult due to his... smaller stature.

Of course, Reepicheep did not have a love life - his heart belonged solely to Aslan, Narnia, and his king - but it was fascinating to hear about Caspian's, however juvenile it may have been yet. He tried to act uninterested, out of respect for both Caspian and Susan, but he found himself to be living vicariously through the pair of them. He wanted every happiness for a king, and having a woman to hold seemed one of these. Though Reepicheep did not understand it, it interested him all the same.

In response to Caspian's words, he scoffed. "Perhaps I am, my liege, but I happen to know that Telmarines and Narnians alike hold the highest opinion of you. That, I say, does not sound like favoritism at all." At the compliments given to himself, his tail stood poker-straight, but that was the only indication of his overwhelming joy. To be praised by one's leader is a great thing, and even Reepicheep knew better than to ruin it with speech. But he quickly moved on, trying to remember his humility, though Caspian's words would be treasured forever.

"Yes," he murmured, "that is what I meant."

He listened carefully to Caspian's words, making a mental note: be happy, make others happy. It sounded simple enough. If only he could find what would make him happy.

"Me? Well, my liege, it has long been my desire to sail to the Utter East and receive my heart's desire," he said, with a soft, Mousy sigh. "A Dryad told me the same when I was only a tiny Mouse, and I have never forgotten it."

He did not seem to realize that he was still a tiny Mouse. But that was not the point.

"I would rather do this than die. I suppose all of us would. But as a knight - you know - this is harder than one might think. Someday, I still hope to sail..."