(hide) ^and^ !seek! anyone?

[Susan Pevensie]

Susan, glared at Edmund. How dare he ruin their entire scheme of carefully breaking the news to Lu. She could hit him, but that was unlady like and often frowned upon. She took a deep breath before turning to Peter. "I'll go talk to Lu, can you please deal with this one." She cocked her head at Edmund.

The little jerk was being all smug in his little world. "Try not to look so pleased with yourself Ed," she spat before turning toward where Lucy had fled. She fled down the hallway. Hopefully they could still solve all of this, she hated adults having to interfere. It made her feel weak and worse it meant that she had failed mom. She abruptly reached the closed door. "Lu, are you in here," she carefully asked. "Can I please come in?" She could Lucy's sobs from behind the door.

She knew that Lu was fragile at times, much more then other children her age. And having such a good imagination had caused many problems before. She couldn't stand to see the hurt in her younger sisters eyes. Susan knew full well that Peter would straighten Ed out.

[Peter Pevensie]

Peter looked at his younger sister, his eyes filled with concern and defeat. "That's enough, Lucy," he said quietly, wishing he could do more. If his sister was this sad, depressed enough to make an entire world to meet her fancy because she felt so alone in this world, then she must be absolutely distraught. Why wasn't he enough for her? Couldn't she see how much he cared about her? It was reassuring to have Susan at his side, because he felt like he had some back-up if he needed it. He loved his siblings, but it seemed like they didn't appreciate him sometimes. As much as he took care of them, he simply wasn't enough for them. He couldn't comfort Lucy when she was away from their mum, and he couldn't play her little games with her anymore. He had to be the strong one for them, but sometimes it felt like that was only hurting them more. Lucy fled, and his shoulders sagged. He heard Susan's words distantly and nodded.

Then he rounded on Edmund. "Now, will you just stop." His voice was quiet, and one might almost be able to call it gentle, because he did not want to upset Lu - who for all he knew might be just around the corner; he couldn't go to help her now because he had to deal with this first. He hated it, but that was his job as the eldest brother - Susan got to seem like the good sibling, who take care of everyone, while Peter was the bad guy who had to discipline and make sure that everyone remained in their place. "Everyone" meaning Edmund. Even though his voice was gentle, words he said grated like broken glass. His irritation grew - not at Edmund, but at himself, and his next words were even meaner: "You always have to make everything worse, don't you?" If only Edmund knew that Peter was only talking to himself. His eyes narrowed - because he felt like he wanted to cry. He was so stupid for thinking he could take care of all of them like this. It was childish of him to think he could handle it all. He just couldn't do it. "When are you going to learn to grow up?"

[LUCRETIA ?!]

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Lucy was so annoying. Had he mentioned that? And it was more annoying because Peter and Susan were always there to oppose him. Of course, he'd admit that things he would say aren't the nicest, but why do they always have to pick on him? He never got the attention his two older siblings showed Lucy. It was just unfair and downright annoying. When Susan flashed him her sharp scowl and remarked to Peter to take care of him, Ed sneered back, a dark look to his face. Susan and her petty words. Snapping to him one last time, she darted down to hall, following Lucy to her little world in a little wardrobe. What did Susan expect to find? Maybe she wanted to fetch a coat? Ed thought scornfully, although the answer was obvious. Susan and Peter were always kidding themselves. "I'll try not to, mother," he barked back, voice pierced with that of a disobedient child who's mother commanded him up to his room.

But she was gone, and he was alone with Peter, who stared stonily down on him. Ed couldn't meet his gaze; Peter was the "discipline whip" of the family. Whenever Ed felt like... "putting a toe—or was it his whole foot?—out of line," as his two older siblings would continuously scowl, Peter was the one who was left to deal with him. Peter had his ways with words. Of course, Ed still snapped with sassy replies and rude comments to his elder brother, but Peter was definitely harder to bug and get to than Susan. Maybe girls were made that way, very annoying, thinks they're smart and right all the time and in charge, snapping and picking on their younger brothers—him, but easily annoyed themselves and somewhat a pushover. Peter made a quiet whisper, almost like he was talking to himself, but Ed knew it was unmistakeably for him; he just glared down at his feet, not moving a muscle—unless you counted his tightening fist.

Peter started to speak again, the tone of his voice growing, inch by inch, more harsh, and that only made Ed block out his brother's voice. What Peter and Susan had never gotten into their heads since they started picking on him was they whenever they started using "the tone" on him (the "parent, harsh" tone), he would just stop listening. And how he knew they never figured that out was because they kept on using "the tone." He rolled his eyes. But as soon as the last sentence escaped from Peter's mouth, Ed jumped to attention. He didn't know why, but just hearing that from Peter made blood in his veins boil and run to his cheeks. Fuming, Ed snapped his head up, eyes blazing with frustration and anger. What on earth did Peter know about growing up?! Of course, Peter is the eldest of the four, but all he ever did was boss him around, act all this and that, and basically abuse his power as the eldest. His brother really expected him to grow up, when he's the one treating him like a baby?! Ed stubbornly thought to himself.

The words left his mouth before he could process them in his brain, " Shut up, Peter! You think you're dad, but you're NOT! So shut up, Peter! " he snapped just as harshly at his brother, anger ablaze. Ed's next thought was to run to the bedroom, but Peter would only follow him up there, and the awkward and tense moment wouldn't get better. So, he stormed quickly off after Susan and Lucy, despite of every nasty thing he was thinking about Susan, Lucy, and her imagination. If Lucy was around, Peter typically didn't dare try a mean tone on him; Ed wasn't chicken or didn't have the guts to face his brother alone, but he was sick of it. Ed burst into the room, cheeking flaming, not caring whether or not Peter was following him. It was an empty room, if you didn't count the wood wardrobe that stood against the far wall, aligned center. He halted, his eyes flickering over Susan, Lucy, and the wardrobe, almost expecting Peter to appear behind him any second now; if he new Peter, ever time he had walked out on his older sibling, Peter wouldn't let it go. " So, where did Lucy's unicorn friend run off to? You know Mrs. Macgrumpy wouldn't be pleased. Imagine her skinning our hide. Did you find the gold pot at the end of the rainbow? Fancy sharing the profit with me? " Edmund sneered with a big fat smirk on his face. Peter had just been scowling at him, but scowling won't stop him from doing what he did best and liked.

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STATUS ?! done.
TAGGED ?! diffles&&julie&&susan.
WORDS ?! 791.
MOOD ?! freezing my butt off. and very tired. cheer is taking a lot outta me...
NOTES ?! sorry about the late reply. T^T i'm completely deaf—or blind—and didn't see that diffles wanted me to continue. DDx so sorrrrrry !

xoxo,
rosie

[Lucy Pevensie]

Lucy stared at the wardrobe nervously as she entered the room. This couldn't have all been a dream, because if what the others said was true, she had only been missing for mere minutes. This puzzled her, because she knew she'd been gone for hours. She quickly moved foreward to the big wooden chest at the back of the room. Shenoticed now, on second approach, all the small things carved into the wardrobe. Trees and rivers were mapped out over the front, large animals, even the huge head of a lion. She placed her fingers on the lions face, stroking it gently. It had to be real. Nothing in her life had been as real as that. She let her fingers fall back to her side and she turned around, seeing Susan standing at the doorway.

“It's real. It was all so real...” Lucy murmmered mostly to herself, unsure if Susan had even caught the words. She turned back to the wooden wardrobe and took a deep breath. She reached up for the handle and placed one small hand around the knob, grasping it tightly but gently. Then she turned it. It clicked as the door came undone and Lcy's breath caught in her throat. She felt not sudden breeze come from it as she had minutes ago. But no worries, surely it was still there. The world was still there. Quiety she turned around to find now Edmund there as well.

“Well come on. Don't just stand there staring at me. Comee and see what's inside.” she urged, trying not to sound desperate as she looked back at the magnificent wooden chest. She stepped up an inside quickly, hoping they would follow her. She smiled and let out a deep contened sigh as she ran her hands along the soft fuzzy wool coats. She slowly kept moving back, expecting at any moment to see a ray of wintery sun shine through, or feel the cold air, or even hear the crunching of snow beneath her shoes as she moved deeper into the wardrobe.

She moved through the last of the coats, a smile of joy on her face at what was there. Or what should have been there. What she had seen this morning was a whole wood, a wood of many snow and frost covered pine trees, where a cold wind was nipping at her cheeks, and small light snowflakes fell from above them. But now, now all Lucy saw was the large wooden back wall of the wardrobe. Her heart paniced. Where's the wood? Where are all the trees and iceicles and snow? Where is Narnia?. she wondered hastily to herself. Who would beleive her now? She had no proof.

But it had been there! She had been there. Truly, it had all been so real just moments earlier. Why would it be gone all of the sudden? She felt tears come to her eyes but she brushed them away angrily as she fled out of the wardrobe in a hurry to where her brothers and sister now stood. She stopped short at the step of the wardrobe, her heart pounding and her face a little paler then normal. “But it's gone...”she whidpered solomnly, looking over at her eldest brother, her blue eyes wide in true confusion. “It was there, it was really there.”

[Susan Pevensie]

This was exactly what Susan didn't want. To be brought to where it all began. It was as if Lucy seriously believed in her world. Something that was not comforting. Despite her active imagination this was going to far. Sue just wished that this was all a dream... that was it! Maybe Lu had dreamed ti all, dreams sometimes felt so really that you believed that they happened in real life. Susan smiled to herself at her logical Revelation. This was going to solve everything.

She carefully approached Lu. "This is where you got in?" She tried to keep her tone even. She glanced at her sister's face."I must say Lu, you probably had a realistic dream, after seeing this wardrobe earlier during our stay here." She waited for Lu to confess that she was right. Susan could already feel a smile forming on her lips. Peter would be very pleased. This was just proof of how self efficient and responsible she could be and her head and heart were swelling with pride.

[Peter Pevensie]

Peter ignored Edmund. He was surprised that the little beast had come here to taunt Lucy more when he knew that Peter would be coming here as well. But he was tired of trying to deal with Edmund, at least for the moment, anyway. Someday he would get what was coming to him, but for the moment Peter was more concerned with Lucy. It was like Edmund to be beastly and taunt Lucy so cruelly, but it was not at all like Lucy to lie.

It worried him. There was little he could do to "fix" Ed - he'd been trying for years - but maybe this thing with Lucy could be resolved, and so he would try. It would seem that the evacuation had had a worse effect on her than they had even anticipated. This was far worse than her usual crying, which could be solved with a hug or a lolly or a kiss on the brow, and this broke Peter's heart more than seeing his baby sister's body wracked by tears - which, mind you, pained him a great deal.

He glanced at Susan as she spoke, in a proud tone that might have annoyed him in a different situation, a situation in which he had control - which he most certainly did not have at this moment. He was glad of Susan's presence, even if she knew it. A dream. Just a dream. Yes, that was a satisfactory explanation. But Lucy looked so distraught that he was almost tempted to believe her. Instead he murmured, "Susan's right, Lucy. That's enough." And then he turned slowly and walked out of the room.

((ooc: I think this thread is pretty much done. Now, Lu needs to go in again, and Ed needs to meet Jadis... but we don't have either of the latter chars. Nor do we have a Professor, who will be needed after Lu goes to Narnia again to talk to Tumnus and her siblings don't believe her. For the sake of speed, I don't think we should play out the second visit between Lucy and Tumnus. I would be willing to step in temporarily as Digory and/or Jadis. We just *need* to get the plot going!)