It was when they heard the howling and barking of the White Witch's forces, that they turned their walk back to the beavers' dam into a sprint. Rosemary swore she had never run so fast in her life, her fear of being captured one that she would never forget.

Susan helped the girl along when she started to slow down in the snow while Peter helped Lucy. They finally made it back to the beaver's dam only to hear the wolves getting closer.

"Hurry, Mother! They're after us!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed and Rosemary didn't have time to question why he had called Mrs. Beaver 'Mother' considering she was his wife. "Oh, right then," she said as she began to walk around the kitchen and pick up things.

"What's she doing?" Peter asked. "Oh, you'll be thanking me later. It's a long journey and Beaver gets pretty cranky when he's hungry," she said as she began to pack up some food. "I'm cranky now!" Mr. Beaver yelled.

"Do you think we'll need jam?" Susan asked as she began to help the she-beaver. Rosemary and Peter looked to her as if she were crazy. They had wolves who were trying to kill them on their tails and Susan was asking about jam? "Only if the Witch serves toast," Peter told her sarcastically.

Susan glared at the boy, but she was stopped when the sound of barking and growling came from just outside. Lucy jumped back and bumped into Rosemary before grabbing into her hand.

The wolves began to scratch their way through the walls of the dam and they watched as the twigs began to break and crumble. Lucy whimpered in fright and Rosemary quickly gripped onto her hand to comfort her.

"This way," Mr. Beaver said as he shoved the kids through the house. Rosemary quickly grabbed onto Edmund's coat, which she had set down, so that she could bring it with for when they got him back.

They were then led into a small tunnel that was hidden behind a door. Mrs. Beaver gave Peter a stick before lighting it with fire on the end while Rosemary turned back to Mr. Beaver. She had time to turn to see him close the door before he was back at the front and guiding them down a rope before running down a tunnel that led away from the dam.

"Badger and me dug this. Comes out right near his place," Mr. Beaver told them. "You told me it led to your mum's!" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed.

At that moment, Lucy tripped over a root in the ground and fell, bringing Rosemary down with her. Rosemary let out a small groan while the two eldest Pevensie ran over to them. "Lucy! Rosemary!" Susan exclaimed in a hushed voice as she helped the smaller girl up. Peter then helped Rosemary up and she opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped at the sound of the wolves in the tunnels.

"They're in the tunnel," Lucy whispered. "Quick! This way," Mr. Beaver exclaimed and Rosemary made sure that the Pevensies were in front of her before she followed from behind. "Hurry!" Mrs. Beaver told them.

"Run!" Peter yelled to them. "Quick! Quick! Quick!" Susan exclaimed. The four children and two beavers ran through the tunnel breathing heavily as their fright took ahold of them. It was only when they came upon a part of the tunnel that split into two separate paths that they stopped.

"You should have brought a map!" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed. "There wasn't room next to the jam," he argued.

Mr. Beaver then looked down the tunnels before picking one and running down it. The others quickly followed and Peter and Rosemary made sure the others were ahead of them before they ran alongside each other down the tunnel.

Mr. Beaver must've chose the right tunnel because they came upon an opening only a few seconds later. Rosemary let out a sigh of relief as they all ran out. As soon as she was out of the tunnel, Peter grabbed an abandoned barrel before placing it in front of the tunnel opening.

They heard a small yell from Lucy and quickly turned to see that she had fallen on what seemed to be a bunch of little rocks. Rosemary squinted her eyes and let out a small gasp, her hand flying over her mouth as she stared at the stones in front of her.

What she had thought to be only a bunch of rocks was actually a bunch of stone figures that made up what seemed to be different kinds of animals. her eyes flickered around the area and she felt her heart sunk once she realized there were even more stone animals. Rosemary had a feeling that these stone figures weren't for someone's yard.

It was only then that she realized the trees were silent, the air almost having an eerie feeling to it.

Rosemary looked to Susan who was standing next to her and they both gave each other surprised and confused looks. They then turned their attention over to the beavers who had walked over to what seemed to be a stone statue of a badger, a look of fear frozen on its face.

"I'm so sorry, dear," Mrs. Beaver whispered as she attempted to comfort her husband. "He was my best mate," Mr. Beaver muttered.

"What happened here?" Peter asked. "This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch," a voice said and they all jumped before turning to see a fox standing on one of the giant boulders in the clearing.

"You take one more step, traitor, and I'll chew you to splinters!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed as he started to walk over to the fox angrily, but Rosemary quickly jumped in front of him. Mr. Beaver glanced at her in surprise. "What are you doing?"

Rosemary glanced back at the fox who looked to her in curiosity. "He's not bad," she said. "How do you know?" Peter asked. "I have a feeling," she told him before looking back to the beavers.

"Relax. She's right. I'm one of the good guys," the fox told them as he jumped down from the boulder. "Yeah? Well, you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones," Mr. Beaver said. "An unfortunate family resemblance," the fox muttered. "But we can argue breeding later. Right now we've got to move."

Mr. Beaver looked as if he were about to argue when the sound of the wolves grew nearer. Peter looked to Rosemary. "You trust him?" he asked.

Rosemary glanced at the fox, a feeling of utter confidence and belief in the animal washing over her. She didn't know why she felt that way, but it was almost as if someone was whispering to her that she could trust him. Maybe it had something to do with her being a protector. She looked back to Peter before nodding her head. "I do," she said while the fox smiled slightly.

Peter nodded before quickly turning to the fox as he held Lucy close to him. "What did you have in mind?" He asked.

That's how the Pevensies, Rosemary, and the beavers ended up in one of the many trees within the forest. They watched as the fox walked a little ways away from them before the barrel was suddenly knocked over as wolves came running out. They instantly began to circle the fox.

"Greetings, gents," the fox greeted. "Lost something, have we?" "Don't patronize me!" one of the wolves said in a gruff voice. "I know where your allegiance lies. We're looking for some humans." "Humans? Here in Narnia? Now that's a valuable bit of information, don't you think?" the fox asked.

Before anyone knew what was happening, one of the wolves had lunged forward and grabbed ahold of the fox's body with its teeth. The fox let out a whimper of pain and Rosemary almost let out a scream, but Susan quickly put a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

"Your reward is your life," the first wolf told the fox. "It's not much, but still. Where are the fugitives?"

The fox was silent for a moment and they all looked to Rosemary, wondering if she still trusted him even if the fox's life was in danger. She only brought Susan's hand away from her mouth and gave them a confident look. She trusted the fox. "North," the fox said and Rosemary knew she had been correct. "They ran north."

"Smell them out," the wolf told his pack. The wolf that was holding the fox in his mouth then tossed the fox aside as if he were nothing before the wolves all ran away.

She waited until the wolves were gone, and then, without any hesitation, Rosemary jumped down from the tree just like she had from the trees outside of her grandfather's house before she sprinted over to the wounded fox. She fell down to her knees beside him and gently reached out to pet his head. The fox instantly relaxed under her touch, but was still breathing heavily from his injury.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Anything for you, My Queen."

- - -

"They were helping Tumnus," the fox said as they all sat around a fire. "The Witch got here before I did." He then let out a yelp of pain as Mrs. Beaver attempted to patch him up.

"Are you all right?" Lucy asked. "Well, I wish I could say their bark was worse than their bite. Ow!" the fox exclaimed. "Stop squirming!" Mrs. Beaver told him. "You're worse than Beaver on bath day."

"Worst day of the year," Mr. Beaver muttered to the children who let out a small laugh.

The fox then slowly got up to his feet. "Thank you for your kindness, but I'm afraid that's all the cure I have time for," the fox told them. "You're leaving?" Rosemary asked. "It has been a pleasure, My Queen, and an honor to meet the protector herself," he said before bowing before them, "but time is short and Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops."

Mrs. Beaver gasped in disbelief. "You've seen Aslan?" Mr. Beaver asked. "What's he like?" Mrs. Beaver asked. The fox smiled warmly at them. "Like everything we've ever heard," he told them.

He then looked to Rosemary and Peter who were sitting next to each other. "You'll be glad to have him by your side in the battle against the Witch," the fox directed towards the two. "But we're not planning on fighting any witch," Susan protested.

"But surely, King Peter and Narnia's Protector, Queen Rosemary, the prophecy!" the fox exclaimed. The beavers and fox looked to the children. Peter and Rosemary glanced at each other before looking to the animals hesitantly.

"We can't go to war without you," Mr. Beaver told them. Peter took a twig he had been twirling around in his hand before tossing it at the fire before them. "We just want our brother back," Peter said.

And at that, a silence fell upon the group as the children all looked down and thought of Edmund. Rosemary subconsciously ran a hand along his coat which was still in her arms. She just hoped he was okay.

- - -

"Now, Aslan's camp is near the Stone Table just across the frozen river," Mr. Beaver told the children as they looked out at the view in front of them. Rosemary could see a bunch of the land and her breath was taken away at the landscape before her that looked as if it had been painted by hand. She then registered what had just been said and looked to the beavers confused.

"River?" She questioned. "Oh, the river's been frozen solid for a hundred years," Mrs. Beaver told them. Rosemary gulped slightly, unsure about the whole crossing the frozen river thing. She looked back out and caught sight of the river they were talking about.

"It's so far," Peter whispered. "It's the world, dear. Did you expect it to be small?" Mrs. Beaver asked. "Smaller," Susan muttered. Rosemary turned to look at the girl and Susan met her eyes for a split second before sighing and walking to the front of the group.

Rosemary looked to Peter who had a guilty look on his face from his sister's cold attitude towards him. She put a hand on his arm and he turned to look at her. Rosemary gave him a small smile which he returned before turning to join them again on their walk.

They hadn't walked far before Lucy looked over at Rosemary. "So, Rosemary," Lucy began, "do you really think your parents were from Narnia?" "I know my father wasn't. Otherwise, my grandfather wouldn't be my grandfather, which he is," Rosemary told her. "As for my mother, I don't know. I was never really told much about my father, let alone my mother."

The Pevensie siblings gave the girl a sad look. They couldn't even begin to imagine what it must be like to think that your parents had left you only to find out that they had never left you in the first place and had instead died protecting you.

Rosemary quickly looked away and down to her feet. Peter noticed and wrapped an arm around the girl to give her a small side hug. "I'm sure they were lovely people. They obviously loved you very much," Peter told her.

Rosemary thought about it for a moment before smiling softly. When she had thought her parents had left her, she had believed they hadn't loved her enough to stay. But now. . . "Yeah, I guess they did," she whispered.

Peter gave her a small smile which she returned before they continued their walk to the river. Rosemary's feet were aching by this point and she had wrapped Edmund's coat around her before putting on her own coat for double the protection from the cold.

"Come on, humans! While we're still young," Mr. Beaver called out to them. Peter glanced back at Lucy who looked to be struggling to walk straight before he stopped and let her get on his back. "If he tells us to hurry one more time, I'm gonna turn him into a big, fluffy hat," Peter muttered.

As if having head them, Mr. Beaver turned around before yelling, "Hurry up! Come on!"

Rosemary looked to Peter with an annoyed look on her face. "I may beat you to it," she told him making the Pevensies chuckle. "He is getting a little bossy," Lucy admitted.

"Oh, behind you!" Mrs. Beaver yelled making them all spin around to see a sleigh coming their way, jingling as it did. "It's her!"

Their eyes widened and Peter quickly put Lucy back down before the four humans began running after the beavers. "Run!" Peter yelled as they all bolted. There was still a long ways to go and the longer it took them to get across the clearing, the closer the White Witch got.

They were almost there when Rosemary tripped and went stumbling to the ground. "Rosemary!" Lucy exclaimed and Peter turned to see the girl struggling to get up off the ground. He looked at the sleigh that was growing closer before rushing over to Rosemary and helping the younger girl to her feet. He then took her hand in his before dragging her out of the clearing and into the woods.

"Hurry!" Peter yelled. They followed the beavers until they paused at a small cave that was covered with snow so that it wasn't noticeable. "Inside!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed. "Dive! Dive!"

"Quick! Quick, quick, quick!" Mrs. Beaver told them as they all rushed into the small cave. They were huddled together as far back as possible and grew quiet as the sound of the sleigh grew nearer. Then, without warning, it stopped.

Lucy's eyes widened as she looked to Rosemary who only pulled the girl close to her body in comfort. They heard the sound of feet walking near before they were able to see the person's shadow above them. Rosemary quickly put a hand over Lucy's mouth to keep her quiet while they all held their breath.

The person walked away a few seconds later and they all waited a moment before Lucy suggested, "Maybe she's gone." "I suppose I'll go look," Peter said. "No! I'm the one that's the protector and I wouldn't exactly be doing my job if I just let you go," Rosemary argued. "I'll go." She started to get up, but Mr. Beaver stopped her.

"No!" He exclaimed in a hushed voice. "You're worth nothing to Narnia dead." "Well, neither are you, Beaver," Mrs. Beaver said. "Thanks, sweetheart," he told her.

He then walked out before climbing up the small hill and disappearing from view. They all waited for a while as a silence filled the air. There were no signs of struggle coming from up above, but there was no sign of life either.

Then they heard the sound of footsteps and before any of them knew what was happening, Mr. Beaver had stuck his head down over the top of the cave and looked at them from upside down. Lucy let out a scream of surprise while they all jumped back.

"Come out! Come out!" Mr. Beaver told them. "I hope you've all been good 'cause there's someone here to see you!" He then disappeared again and they all glanced at each other before leaving the cave. They began to climb up the small hill and Rosemary let out a small gasp at the sight before her.

There stood Father Christmas in all his glory. He had his hands on his hips and stood in front of a sleigh and reindeer with a big smile on his face as he looked at the group.

He let out a joyful laugh at their shocked expressions. They walked forward and Lucy grinned before saying, "Merry Christmas, sir." "It certainly is, Lucy, since you have arrived," he told her.

"Look, I've put up with a lot since I got here, but this. . ." Susan muttered as she looked to Peter and Rosemary to back her up. The two just looked away and walked closer to Santa. "We thought you were the Witch," Peter explained.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry about that, but in my defense, I have been driving one of these longer than the Witch," he said. "I thought there was no Christmas in Narnia," Susan stared.

"No. For a long time," Santa admitted. "But the hope that you have brought, Your Majesties, is finally starting to weaken the Witch's power. Still, I dare say you could do with these." He then turned around and pulled a big bag out of his sleigh.

Lucy's face lit up. "Presents!" She exclaimed. She rushed forward and Santa chuckled as he reached into the bag and pulled out a small bottle that was inside a case. He bent down in front of Lucy and held it out.

"The juice of the fire-flower," he told her. "One drop will cure any injury. And though I hope you never have to use it. . ." He then handed her what seemed to be a dagger. Susan's eyes widened slightly while Rosemary attempted to hold back her laugh.

"Thank you, sir, but I think I could be brave enough," Lucy said. "I'm sure you could. But battles are ugly affairs," he told her. He then stood up before reaching into the bag and pulling out a bow and a quiver of arrows.

"Susan," he said as he held it out to her. "Trust in this bow and it will not easily miss." "What happened to "battles are ugly affairs"?" Susan asked as she hesitantly took the weapons. Santa chuckled.

"Though you don't seem to have a problem making yourself heard, blow on this and wherever you are, help will come," he said as he handed her a small white horn. "Thanks," Susan whispered.

"Peter," Santa said, turning to the boy. "The time to use these may be near at hand." He handed Peter a sword and shield, each with some sort of lion decoration on them. Peter slid the sword out of its sheath and looked at it with an unreadable expression. "Thank you, sir," Peter said as he looked at his sword.

Santa smiled and then looked to the last girl. "Rosemary," he said. "Yes?" She asked as she stepped forward. His smile grew slightly and he reached into his bag. "For you, my dear," he began. He then pulled another sword out of the bag, but this one seemed to look a little older than the one Peter had been given. "I give you the same sword your father used when he fought by Aslan's side."

Rosemary looked at the man in shock before gently taking the sword. This had been her father's. Her eyes teared up slightly as she ran a thumb across a small engraving which had the two letters W and K.

William Kirke.

"And you'll need this to go with it," Santa said as he handed her a new shield. She took it and was about to thank him when he reached into his pocket. "Finally, this," he told her and Rosemary's eyes widened in surprise. There was more?

He held his hand out and Rosemary watched as a necklace dangled from his grasp. It was a silver necklace with a small circle on the end that had the design of a tree within. "Use this to call upon the power of the trees. It will help you harness the power that you received from your mother," he told her as she took it from him. "Whenever you are in trouble or need assistance, the trees will hear your call."

She held onto the necklace tight, her mind drifting back to what the beavers had said about her mother and how she had been a dryad. It made sense that she would been able to communicate with the trees and this necklace was only going to make the connection stronger.

"And the most important thing of them all," he began. She turned to look at him and he pointed at her with a knowing smile. "Your voice." "My voice?" Rosemary questioned.

Santa nodded. "Your voice is your greatest weapon, Rosemary," he told her. "Never forget that." "Thank you, sir, but what do you mean?" Rosemary asked. Santa only smiled, "You will find out in time."

Rosemary frowned and was about to question him, but he had taken a step back to look at them all. "These are tools, not toys," he warned them. "Bear them well and wisely. Now, I must be off. Winter is almost over, and things do pile up when you've been gone a hundred years. Long live Aslan!" He then got into his sleigh. "And Merry Christmas!"

He then rode off and they all called after him, yelling, "Merry Christmas! Thank you!" As soon as he was out of sight, Lucy turned to Susan with a small smirk. "Told you he was real," Lucy taunted.

"He said winter was almost over," Peter said. Rosemary turned to look at him as she put her necklace on. It fell to rest on her chest once she was done and she gave Peter a questioning look. "You know what that means," he told them.

"No more ice."