Beyond The Lamppost

Too Good of a Big Brother

Prompt for February: Brothers
Ages:
Peter -19
Edmund- 16
Susan- 18
Lucy-  13

Edmund kicked a rock with his boot, as he walked across the Western Woods. He sighed heavily before kicking another one. "Peter, tell me again why you wouldn't let us bring horses with us on this 'trip'"

"Because, Ed, you and I needed to spend some quality time together. Without horses, or anyone else."

"But did we have to go somewhere that's a 3 day walk from Cair?" Edmund moaned.

"Oh stop complaining, Edmund. You know you had fun." Peter replied.

Edmund took a deep breath. "Alright, yes I had fun."

"See?" Peter said, turning to face his brother as the two continued walking. "It was a good idea, despite you believing that it wasn't."

"The first half was a good idea, the second half, not so much. There's no reason we shouldn't be able to horse ride home. For one, it's much quicker. Plus, all this walking is exhausting."

"It's all part of the adventure." Peter said, smiling. "And anyway, we'll be home by tomorrow afternoon, I think you'll survive."

Edmund sighed, kicking another rock beneath him. "Can we at least stop for lunch now?"

"Sure." Peter breathed, smiling at his brother.

Edmund breathed a sigh of relief, walking over to a tree and sitting down beside it.

"Is food all you think about, Edmund?" Peter asked, chuckling as he walked over to the tree his brother sat beneath.

Edmund furrowed his eyebrows. "No...sometimes I think about sleep."

Peter stared at him for a moment before chuckling slightly, causing Edmund to smirk.

The smiles quickly disappeared from their faces a second later, when they heard a rustle in the bushes.

"What was that?" Edmund whispered.

"I don't know..." Peter said, also whispering. "Maybe it was just a squirrel or something?"

"Or maybe it was a wolf, or a hag, or something that wants to kill us!" Edmund whisper shouted.

"I won't let anyone kill you." Peter said, determination in his voice. He swallowed hard, taking a deep breath, and unsheathing his sword. "Who's there?" He said in his High King voice. Looking to his left he saw that Edmund had stood up, and unsheathed his sword as well.

There was complete silence for a full minute, before Peter sighed. He slowly walked over to the bushes where the sound had come from, Edmund following.

Once there, they were still met with silence. Peter nodded his head towards the back of the bush, indicating to his brother that they should walk around and look behind it.

Edmund nodded.

The two slowly walked around the bush, stopping a moment before they were behind it.

Edmund looked up at his brother, who mouthed, on 3, at him. He nodded.

The younger king watched as his brother held up one finger. ...2...3... before they both jumped behind the bush, ready to face whatever was there.

Edmund furrowed his eyebrows, and Peter let out a sigh at the sight. Once again, nothing was there.

"Where did it go?" Peter whispered, looking around for any other signs that a creature had been there.