The Phoenix Archer ∞ Peter Pevensie

i. | T H I R T E E N

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P E T E R

I watched as the Archer made her way down the hill, wiping at the cut on her face which looked deeper now that the blood has been cleaned off, but she seems to be completely unfazed by it. Hell, she didn't even flinch when the dagger was pulled on her.

With a huff, I finally make up my mind and follow after her. It would serve as a good chance to clear my head, anyway.

"I told you I was fine." The Archer says without even sparing me a glance as she takes a seat at the edge of the hill, folding her legs under her.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Your footsteps are pretty distinct." She replies with a hint of annoyance lacing her tone, "We're going to have to work on that during your next training session."

I plop down next to her with a sigh as I looked out on the horizons. Although, it's hard to admire the beauty it has to offer with all of the whirlwinds of emotions practically radiating off of the girl sitting next to me. It was almost as if I could feel them- frustration, anger, guilt and most of all, sadness.

"Stop staring, you creep."

I don't even realise I was until Nerissa had pointed it out and I quickly averted my eyes.

"S-Sorry." My apology comes out in stutters, one that surprisingly earns a laugh out of her.

My head snaps towards her in shock so fast as I turned to look at her that I could almost feel the whiplash. This was the first time I've ever heard a proper laugh come out of her.

"Oh, don't look so surprised. I may be serious most of the time but I'm not completely emotionless." She turns to me, the corners of her lips quirked up into a smirk, "I am allowed to laugh now, aren't I, your highness?" 

"Y-You don't need permission for that." I stammer again, still not quite used to this side of the Archer.

"Good, we won't have a problem, then."

Her eyes meet mine and I'm once again reminded of how intense they are, and how they so perfectly reflected her personality in them; hot-headed and stubborn, but at the same time, brave, determined, persistent and loyal.

As she looks away, I notice the long but slightly faded scar across her right eye- it wasn't obvious, but once you notice it, it's pretty hard to miss.

Hoping that her revealing this side of herself to me was a sign that she was willing to open up, I gather my courage and asked what was on my mind.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get that?" I point to her eye.

Her face falls upon hearing my question, but that doesn't stop her from answering it.

"I was young and decided that it was a good idea to feed some of the birds with..." She pauses for a moment, exhaling sharply as if the mere memory pains her. "With a friend. The Witch didn't like it and this was our punishment."

I shudder at the thought of being slashed across the eye with a blade but Nerissa simply shrugs a shoulder and I find myself gaping at her nonchalance.

"I was lucky it was a shallow cut and I didn't lose my eye."

Feeling slightly braver after having my question answered, I decided to push forward in my quest to further solve this mystery that is The Phoenix Archer.

"Your friend. Was it the same person that the Witch was talking about? What did she mean when she asked if you were ready to join them?"

As soon as I finished asking the question, I knew that I shouldn't have. There was an immediate shift in the air and a sense of coldness lingered between us as Nerissa stiffens beside me.

"We're done here."

Without warning, the Archer jumps to her feet and starts to make her way back up the hill towards Aslan's tent so fast that I could barely keep up with her.

"Hey, wait! I'm sorry!" I yell as I chased after her.

I grabbed her wrist as soon as she was close enough and she retorts by skilfully twisting her arm out of my grasp and shoving me- just hard enough to make me stumble back slightly, but not enough to harm me in any way.

"Look, I apologise for overstepping, but I thought if we got to know each other a little better then maybe we could be friends-"

"I'm going to make this very clear to you," Nerissa takes a step forward, her eyes glaring into mine, "We are not friends. Just because I decide to have a little chat with you does not make us friends. I was assigned to you by Aslan. My job is to protect and train you and that is where the line is drawn. So, I'm going to say this one more time just so that it sinks into that brain of yours: we are not and will never be friends."

A part of me knows I shouldn't but still, my mouth falls open to protest. However, before I even manage to get my argument out, the Archer stomps off once again and I'm left running after her, hoping to salvage the situation.

"Nerissa!" I call, but she doesn't stop. Not until we're back at the camp, where everyone else was gathered.

We return just as the crowds raised, leaving me no time to talk to her at all as Aslan emerges from his tent.

I feel my heart starting to pound against my chest once again as I prepare myself for the worst-case scenario. But then again, could anyone ever prepare themselves for something as cruel as losing a loved one?

"She has renounced the claim on the Son of Adam's blood." The Lion announces.

"How do I know your promise will be kept?" The Witch questions.

Aslan lets out a mighty roar in response, causing the Witch to stagger back into her seat, drawing cheers from the crowd around me. Relief fills my chest and I rush over to join my siblings as they celebrated, grinning from ear to ear.

"Where did you run off to?" Susan asks.

"Nowhere. I just wanted to get some air." I answered and Susan eyed me sceptically.

At the reminder of the incident just moments before, my eyes start to scan the crowd. Unconsciously, I search for Nerissa and when I finally find her, I find my facial expression mimicking hers. Her brows were furrowed together and her lips were pulled into a frown as her eyes darted between Aslan and the Witch as if trying to find a missing piece to a puzzle.

I follow her gaze and catch sight of the mighty Lion just as he enters his tent with his head hang low with his sad eyes fixated on the ground. Something was definitely off.