"I don't remember this way."

            "That's the problem with girls," Peter replied to Susan. "You can't carry a map in your heads."

            Zola rolled her eyes. As if girls were any less than any man walking the planet. As she rolled her eyes, she realised she shouldn't have done that. A wave of dizziness overcame her and her skin went paler.

            They'd been walking a few hours, on their way to the woods. Peter was leading the group in a way where Zola knew there to be a cliff, but she hadn't said anything.

            "That's because our heads have something in them." Lucy replied jokingly.

            Zola laughed at Lucy's comment. She liked the little girl. Susan added to her sister's comment. "I wish he'd just listened to the D.L.F in the first place."

            "D.L.F?"

            Lucy laughed. "Dear Little Friend."

            Edmund looked down to the dwarf, he'd been walking on the rocks, laughing. Trumpkin looked away, to Zola. "Oh, that's not at all patronising, is it?"

            "At least they're acknowledging your ancestry." Zola patted her friend on his head, which she knew he hated, and walked further. Edmund laughed silently so the dwarf wouldn't turn to him. He'd been embarrassed, yes, but at least the girl had humour.

            Peter stopped at a spot where there were multiple tunnels. "I'm not lost."

            "No," Trumpkin climbed up a stone. "You're just going the wrong way."

            "You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods," Peter argued. "And the quickest way there is to cross at the river Rush."

            "But unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts." Trumpkin replied slowly. He was trying his best to stay calm, but Peter was getting on his nerves.

            Peter's tone became stern. "That explains it, then. You're mistaken."

            Peter turned around to continue through the tunnel. Zola yelled after him. "May I remind you it's been 300 years since you've seen this place?"

            Peter ignored her comment and kept his head forward, going through one of the tunnels. The tunnel lead to a forest, one Zola recognised. She also knew Peter was leading them to a dead end, but she wanted to see his reaction to that. Zola kept her mouth shut.

            The colour began to fade from her face. Walking became harder, but Zola didn't give up. Drops of sweat stood on her forehead.

            But it wasn't because of the exercise.

            "Are you okay?" Susan asked Zola, slowing down her pace to be able to walk next to her.

            Lucy did the same and added. "Yeah, you look a little pale."

            Zola forced a witty smile on her face. "Is that an insult?" She teased. "I'm fine."

            She was, in fact, not fine.

            Unbeknownst to her, Zola's wound hadn't been cleaned well enough and was starting to infect. If she will continue with these bandages much longer, Zola will collapse and most likely die.

            Peter stopped at a cliff, falling down there would mean falling in the river. The woods continued on the other side of the river, but Peter was reluctant to admitting he was wrong.

            "You see, over time, water erodes the earth's soil, carving deeper—" Susan started to explain to her brother. She, too, knew already this was a dead end.

            "Oh, shut up."

            "You really shouldn't underestimate us, just because we're girls," Zola added. "For all you know we're better than you." She winked at Edmund, as if to taunt him about losing a fight to her.

            He rolled his eyes, turning his head to Trumpkin. "Is there a way down?"

            "Yeah, falling."

            "Well, we weren't lost." Peter defended himself.

            Zola put her hand on her hip, tilting her head slightly. "You don't give up, do you?"

            Peter didn't reply, but Susan and Lucy next to him gave Zola all the answers she needed. Peter did indeed not give up.

            "There's a ford near Beruna. How do you feel about swimming?" Trumpkin asked, his usual sarcasm present.

            "I'd rather that than walking." Susan replied. She started going down the hill already.

            Zola wasn't too big of a fan of swimming to the other side. She wasn't sure if she'd survive in the river with her energy level.

            She relied on the trees to support her on her journey downhill, until an unexpected hand held onto her arm. Zola looked up, seeing Edmund holding her steadily. He might actually have been the last person Zola expected to help her.

            Edmund didn't say anything about it furthermore. He was just casual about it. Inside his feelings were conflicting with each other. The gentleman in Edmund had simply won.

            "Aslan?" Zola heard Lucy exclaim behind her. She turned around. "It's Aslan! It's Aslan over there! Don't you see? He's right—" Lucy turned back around, suddenly falling silent. "there..."

            Trumpkin and Zola shared a look. Zola had read stories of people seeing Aslan, but nobody had ever told her personally. The same went for Trumpkin. The only difference was that Zola believed them and Trumpkin didn't.

            "Do you see him now?" He asked Lucy, who was staring to the other side of the cliff.

            Lucy turned around, her gaze irritated. "I'm not crazy. He was there. He wanted us to follow him."

            "No one called you crazy, girl." Zola defended her friend. She could, however, understand Lucy's reaction.

            Peter also looked conflicted. He wanted to support his little sister, but at the same time, he couldn't believe Aslan would be there. "I'm sure there are any amount of lions in this wood. Just like that bear."

            "I think I know Aslan when I see him." Lucy said. She was sure this would just be another case of what happened last time. Nobody believed her about Narnia in the first place.

            "Look," Trumpkin tried to negotiate. "I'm not about to jump off a cliff after someone who doesn't exist."

            "The last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid." Edmund spoke up.

            As Edmund spoke up, he brought all eyes to him. It made Zola realise their arms were still connected, and she shoved his arm away quickly. An embarrassing redness flushed her cheeks, which made her change positions to the other side of the tree, behind Trumpkin.

            Zola saw Peter sigh. "Why wouldn't I have seen him?"

            "Maybe you weren't looking." Lucy looked up at her brother, her voice was softer than just now. Simply because she now knew people believed her.

            Peter apologised. "I'm sorry, Lu." Then he walked away, leaving Lucy to stand on the cliff. Everyone left, but Edmund waited for the youngest Pevensie. Zola liked how much he cared for her, it reminded her of her own brother.

            Oh, Caspian, if you aren't there when Zola arrives, you are in big trouble.

            The six compagnons continued walking until they came to a stop next to a building camp Zola recognised to be from the Telmarines. The men were cutting trees and carrying them to a spot where they were building boats.

            Zola sat crouched on the left, closest to the road. She heard the steps of multiple horses nearing. "Down!" She shouted at the rest. They all laid flat on their backs, Edmund accidentally laid down on top of Zola, causing another awkward situation.

            Zola tried to ignore it, but the feeling of Edmund's head on her stomach was giving her an unfamiliar feeling, one she hadn't felt before, not even with Jameson. It was a sort of tingling sensation she couldn't place.

            She shook the feeling away, getting up to see who was on the horse. Zola's mouth dropped once she saw her uncle on one of the horses. She dropped back down, simply staring forward with wide eyes, breathing loudly.

            "Could you be any louder?" Edmund asked, seeing the opportunity to sit back up. "They'll hear you."

            "No, they won't." She breathed out.

            After a few seconds of sitting there, Peter went back into the woods. Everyone else followed him, Zola doing so with a groan. She held a hand on her wound as long as no one was looking. They went back to the cliff, where Lucy claimed to have seen Aslan. She believed it might have been something.

            "So, where exactly do you think you saw Aslan?" Peter asked Lucy, who had been staring at the other side.

            Lucy turned around. "I wish you'd all stop trying to sound like grown–ups," She accused. "I don't think I saw him, I did see him." She started walking the other way.

            "I am a grown–up." Trumpkin said silently. Only Edmund and Zola heard. Usually Zola would've made a comment on it, but she was just too tired.

            Lucy continued. "It was right over—" The cliff she was standing on broke, causing her to fall down, screaming. Everyone ran to the place where she fell, looking over the cliff. Lucy stood a few feet lower, on another block. "Here..."

            Zola went last on purpose as they went down. She had to jump down, which didn't go so smoothly. She was starting to feel like she could pass out any time now.

starting to show more signs... wont be long until find out ...