kitchen_maid | (no subject)

(no subject)

In the two weeks since the Ordinary Princess was last here, autumn has arrived in the Forest of Faraway. But this is that perfect moment in autumn, the one you remember. The leaves have turned, but few have fallen. The weather has turned cooler, but it's still warm in the sun. It's a beautiful day for a picnic.

The Ordinary Princess stands very still in the clearing, head tilted back to look at the trees and the sky, the squirrels chasing each other around her feet. "This is the Forest of Faraway," she says, eyes still on the trees. And then she turns to look at Caspian. "This is home."

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He takes a deep breath, noting the scent of the loam and the leaves and the coolness of the breeze that brushes his forehead, and then turns to smile at her.

"It's beautiful, Amy. And Peter was right--it doesn't look like Narnia, quite, but something feels similiar."

"Thank you," she says. "I grew up in this forest, on the Phantasmorania side, of course, but still. Hours and hours and hours here. I'm so glad you like it."

"It's beautiful," he says, and watches her fondly.

"It's easy to see why you love it so. You really belong here, Amy, it's remarkable."

She smiles at him. "Thank you," she says again. "You give very good compliments."

"So, what would you like to do?"

He looks about him for a moment, taking it all in.

"Could we explore a bit, maybe? It's been quite a while since I've had a good ramble in the woods."

"Of course," she says, taking his hand. "Pick a direction."

He looks about, and points.

"That direction."

Looking up at the sky for a moment, he makes a guess. "North, is it?"

"Northeast," she says. The Ordinary Princess does not get lost in these woods. "Northeast, and toward the blackberries."

Toward the blackberries, along the creek, past a half-rotted fallen tree grown over with moss, in and out of shadow and shade.

The squirrels are still underfoot, though Peter Aurelious has gone visiting relatives in the treetops. The wood is full of birdsong and breezes, and a deer, who has learned that the Ordinary Princess has food in her pockets, comes out to say hello.

Not in a Talking Beasts sort of way, but hello, none the less.

"Peter did say we had to go to the blackberry patches," he says, grinning. "So I hope we're heading in that direction."

He waits as the deer comes out, watching curiously, and bows to it slightly.

"Good day," he offers, with a smile. One gets used to greeting animals, no matter what.

The deer looks curiously from Caspian to the Ordinary Princes.

"Here," says the Ordinary Princess to Caspian, producing a crust of bread from her apron pocket. "Make friends."

The deer watches the bread closely.

Caspian takes the bread, and holds it out to the deer, patiently waiting as the creature takes first one shy step, and then another, large liquid brown eyes on the bread.

Another step. Another.

It stretches out its neck gracefully, and takes the breads gently from Caspian's hand, before bounding away at some rustle in the bushes.

Caspian laughs.

The Ordinary Princess laughs, too. "She always comes to say hello," she says, "or at least to beg food." She looks thoughtfully at the woods, branches still moving slightly from the deer's having passed them. "Though she usually stays longer."

"She may have had other business," Caspian suggests. "Or something caught her attention. She may well come back later, for food."

"Or she may have just wanted the bread today," says the Ordinary Princess, with a laugh. "And is therefore done with us."

"Or that," he says, grinning back. "I feel terribly used. Then again, I used to hunt deer, so I suppose it all evens out in the end."

She laughs. "Yes, I can see where that might make her uncomfortable," she says.

She looks at him, curious and teasing just a bit. "Were you any good at it? Hunting deer?"

"Quite good," he says, laughing. "Although, like Peter and the others, I never did manage to catch the white stag, which in the end is rather more desirable than having caught him, I think."

As they start back along the path, the Ordinary Princess says, "What white stag? And why is it better not to have caught him?"

"The White Stag," Caspian tells her, "was a creature that only appeared every now and again, and he would give you wishes if you caught him. I think it better to have let such a noble beast go free than to hunt him to exhasution."

"Yes, I think you're right."

She looks at him, very curious. "What would you have wished for?"

He thinks for a moment.

"I don't rightly know," he says, after a while. "Different things at different points of my life, I suppose."

[ooc: oops! sorry about that.]

[ooc: No worries. I do it all the time. And since we're both currently switching back and forth . . . I think we're doing VERY well.]

"What would you wish for now, then?" she asks. She's not teasing, she's genuinely curious.

He quirks a smile at her.

"Let me think on it, and I will tell you when I have arrived at a conclusion," he promises.

"What would you wish for, Amy?"

The Ordinary Princess looks up at the trees. She is not, really, given to wishing for things, and she's never thought about it before.

"A week ago, I'd have said a brother," she says after a long moment, "or at least some member of my family who wasn't just a little bit disappointed in me, but that's taken care of. I don't there's really anything I'd wish for right now. Except, maybe, to stay this happy. That's a silly wish, isn't it?"

"There are no silly wishes," he says, seriously.

"Aslan told me, when he'd woken me up, that I could not want wrong things anymore, now that I am dead. But I think that has only made me more cautious in wishing for things. Does that make sense?"