They were moving before the sun had risen the next morning. Dawn creeping through the branches as their footsteps sounded almost silently as the birds awoke around them. Caspian watched the light begin to bloom around then with wide eyes. His sword banging on his hip and his breast plate heavy on his shoulder in the early morning exhaustion. Ahren was a few feet ahead of him and he watched as the other teen climbed nimbly over a fallen log. Movements agile and sure within the setting of this gloomy forest. In comparison Caspian felt clumsy and far too large for the silent travel they were attempting.

He stumbled and grunted as he narrowly avoided turning his ankle on a fallen branch. Ahren turned back and his teasing grin was bright in the morning light. "Careful", his voice was hushed.

Caspian huffed at him. "Where are we going?"

"To the elders", Bree replied. The satyr was further ahead of either of them. Him and Summer walking aside Willowbranch. The centaur leading the way through the trees, seemingly following a path no one else could see.

"Keep your voices down", Summer hissed at them. Her hair glinting gold that reminded Caspian of the wheat fields on the edge of the city. "Telmar soldiers are haunting this forest. They will kill us if they find us". Her threat was enough to dose the prince in cold water and he picked up his pace slightly. He had no idea where they were going, only that they ere taking him deeper into the woods. Far further into uncharted territory than he knew most telmarines would likely go.

Yet the fact that he was so far out of his depth was not as scary to him as he might have expected. Ahren was leading the way and he had always been leading the way. He was the one who had bridged Caspian's path out of his comfort shell and the world he had known. Some of that was due to the death of his father, yet the journey of it had been represented by Ahren. So it was not scary to follow him through the forest now. To watch the way the other navigated the uneven ground with the ease and skill almost rivalling the two goat legged siblings in front of him. Not as fast as them, not as steady, but far steadier than Caspian's clumsy feet and more so than any other hunter he's seen.

Ahren turned around and beckoned him forwards. "Hurry up", he whispered, tone still teasing. "If we want to make it to the elders before the moon his high then you will need to move faster". Caspian caught up to his side and Ahren brushed their shoulders together.

"I am barely out of breath", Caspian nudged him back and was rewarded with a smile. Together they fell into step. Ahren showing him wordlessly through hands on his arm, pointed nudges, and gestures how to navigate the forest ground.

The sun rose over them and they broke for a brief rest. They were still too close to Telmar to light a fire out of the shelter of their caves but Willobranch was carrying a pack of bread and cheese. She shared it out from the packs on her flank and they took positions on the grassy ground around them. "Ahren made the bread", Willowbranch stated as she handed Caspian a slice.

"A cook and a woodsman", he grinned. "How edible is this?"

Ahren leaned over heavily into him, almost sending the both of them sprawling over. Caspian laughed and shoved him back. The bread wasn't bad for something baked in a cave. He devoured it with the accompanying cheese. Eyes meeting Ahren's as he chewed. The other breaking the gaze with a snigger and a roll of warm brown that had Caspian laughing.

"A prince and a jester", Ahren shot back. "How talented".

They had been walking all morning but Caspian still found energy to jump up and draw his sword. "Oh no", Bree remarked blandly as he chewed. "He's drawn his sword". Summer snorted and giggled into her flask while Willowbranch just smiled fondly.

Ahren leapt to his feet and set down his flask to draw his own sword before pulling the bow and quiver off his back. They were passed to Summer, who took them eagerly. His face steady and his curls bouncing in the sun as he unsheathed the sword at his hip. The light bringing the red out in them and the honey warmth to his eyes. His blade glinted as he swung it around in a circle. "You want to start a fight?" He challenged.

"Come at me Ahren", Caspian pointed at him with his sword and grinned. "Let's see if you have improved in the past few years".

Ahren replied with a swing of his sword, a high blow which Caspian blocked then had to jump back to avoid a kick to the ankles. It was a dirty blow that was followed up by a lunge to the abdomen. Their swords clashed with a ringing noise that had Bree laughing. Ahren's footwork had greatly improved and for a few moments they danced back and forwards, their blades meeting before they slid past and to strike again like a pair of hawks in midair. Ahren giggling at the clashing of their blades as Caspian chuckled.

"Have I improved?" Ahren asked breathlessly over the cross of their blades.

"You have", Caspian was truthful. His eyes flicking over the pink flush to Ahren's cheeks and the happy joy in his eyes. He had missed this. The adrenaline in his blood as he sparred with his best friend. For a second they were children again, laughing as they swung wooden swords.

Then Ahren pulled his sword away and ducked low, dropping his sword and instead tackling Caspian to the ground. They fell in a pile of limbs, laughing and shrieking as their swords lay abandoned in the grass. For a moment Ahren was lying on him, his face in Caspian's neck and his breath warm on his skin. Their limbs tangled and dark curls on his check and then Ahren was rolling off him to sprawl next to him in the grass. Caspian turned his head to meet the warm brown eyes gazing at him. "I won", Ahren declared.

"Won? You fought dirty".

"I still won".

"I say it's Wren's victory", Summer declared as she walked into their line of sight. She held out a hand and a beaming Ahren was pulled to his feet. He dusted himself down before turning to where Caspian was still sprawled. He held out a hand.

"My prince?" The title was fond. "Or should I say my king?"

"Careful. That's treason", Caspian took the hand. Ahren grunted as he heaved him up back onto his feet.

"My mere existence is treason. So's yours".

"I guess we can commit treason together then", Caspian grinned. He squeezed the hand in his before letting go and retrieving his sword.

Ahren's reply was a softer smile, hesitant and almost intimate. It faded as he turned to the others and cleared his throat. "How much further?"

Bree and Summer were watching them both with sly smiles that made Ahren frown. Willowbranch stood up, the coordination of her four legs still surprising Caspian. "We have some more miles to go. We should be careful since we will need to go past the river. But we may reach there by nightfall if we make good time".

Caspian bent down and picked up Ahren's fallen sword. He offered it and watched as steady hands took it and sheathed it. How sure they were on the hilt. The steadiness in Ahren's hands and gaze. He liked that. It was another reminder that Ahren had grown.

unedited