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THE NEXT MORNING, LONG AFTER THE SUN had fully risen, we set out on boats to get to an island we had finally found after ages of sailing empty waters.

     It had been almost three weeks since we left Coriakin's island.

     I was on the boat with Reepicheep, sat just behind him as he stood on the end of it. My satchel with my Bible, sketchbook, and letter to my uncle all tucked inside was around my shoulders, the bag itself sitting in my lap. I had my lower lip, once again, tucked between my teeth. I scowled at myself once I caught it and put my lip back where it belonged - not being torn to bloody shreds.

     Jack was on my shoulder, chittering. He reached out for the tip of Reep's tail, only for it to be swiped out of his reach.

     "Ah-ah-ah," said the mouse, waving his sword back and forth. "Keep that up, and no more juicy grapes for you, little friend!"

     "Little?" said another crewman rowing the boat. "Mind you - and with all due respect-" he said sarcastically, "Jack is bigger than you."

     The mouse pointed his sword at the grinning man. "Does it really matter?"

     He shrugged. "S'pose not." He continued rowing.

     "I doubt the lords stopped here, my liege," Reep called to the boat with Caspian, Edmund, Eustace, and Lucy in it, among a couple other men. "There's no sign of anything living."

     "Right," the King yelled back. "Well, once we get ashore, take your men and search for food and water. The four of us will look for clues." By four, he referred to himself, Edmund, Lucy, and I, and Eustace knew that.

     "Hang on, you mean the five of us."

     In an instant, everyone stopped rowing and turned to look at the young boy at the same time.

     "Come on, please don't send me back to the rat."

     "I heard that," said "rat" yelled over, clearly offended.

     Turning away and lowering his voice, Eustace let out a quiet "Big ears", to which the mouse yelled back:

     "I heard that, too."

     I, along with everyone else, laughed at that. All except for Eustace himself.

     Once we got ashore, I helped unload some of the supplies from the boats. We all went back and forth, picking up crates and bags and dropping them onto the shore, handing each other supplies, and generally having a good time.

     I noticed Eustace had wandered off - which came as no surprise at all - and wanted to genuinely know how he was feeling about this all. I know he said he didn't like nor believe it, that he hated everything about it, but that couldn't be true.

     So, when Caspian, Edmund, and Lucy set out to look for anything that would help them out in the quest, I had told them I'd catch up with them. I also made sure Captain Drinian knew I would be looking for Eustace, and he nodded with a "Be very careful, lass. We've no idea what dangers this island holds."

     I set out to find Eustace and see if I could have some one-on-one time with him, try to get along with him better. I went in the direction I had seen him go. It seemed to lead along a flat path of nothing but sand and rocks and steam ducts in the ground.

     I had been looking for a long while, calling his name, but finding no trace of him. I seemed to, however, find a cave entrance. It was about as tall as I, but completely dark inside, looking in.

     But, due to the curiosity welling up inside me, telling me to explore (while checking for traces of Eustace, of course), I made my way inside.

     I walked past dimly lit stalactites and stalagmites and pillars of stone, hearing drips and drops and splashing of puddles. I saw things in the darkness ahead reflecting the bright sunlight at the entrance. I squinted my eyes, but couldn't tell what the objects were.

     I stepped forward again, but kicked something on the ground. I looked down and saw what looked like a rock. I bent down and picked it up, holding it to the dim light and rotating it, quickly finding out that it was a gorgeous pink gemstone about the size of a fifty pence coin. Curious to see what else the cave had (and wishing badly that I had a torch like Edmund's), I ventured forward.

     Jack screeched in my ear, not meaning to make my ear practically bleed, but something spooked him and he leapt off of me, onto the ground.

     "Jack, wait!" I yelled, worried he'd hurt himself, watching him run screeching from the cave into the light of outside.

     I sighed and set the pretty gemstone back onto the ground before turning to leave, until something told me to stay. I turned around slowly, looking into the darkness. I saw a faint green pool of fog emerge from the darkness, spreading across the cave floor toward me. I backed away, but it increased in speed.

     So, I turned and ran toward the entrance, but the ground started rumbling and the skies outside started roaring. The shaking knocked my feet from under me, and I fell painfully to the ground, cutting my right hand on a sharp rock and scraping my left cheek and temple from the impact on the rough floor.

     I looked up and saw dust and rocks falling in the entryway to the cave, and realized what was happening. Glancing back, I saw the green mist advancing toward me faster, and I stood up and continued to run.

     However, the rumbling knocking the rocks and dust down was faster, and the entrance to the cave collapsed.

     I was now stuck in a pitch black cave with gemstones and dark green fog, swallowing me whole.

     Caspian, Lucy, and Edmund had noticed that neither I nor Eustace had returned to the shore once they returned, now with a new sword akin to the first of the seven they'd been given on the slave trade island.

     They remembered that I said I'd catch up to them so I could look for the boy, but didn't return, and that was worrisome in itself.

     So, Caspian handed Lucy the sword they found in the cave where Midas' pool was and followed Edmund as he set out to find Eustace and I.

     Venturing out further into the wasteland of rocks, dirt, dust, and steam, the boys called our names.

     They came across a ravine full from wall to wall with gold; armor, jewelry, precious clothing, and other items made of the expensive metal.

     "Treasure," Edmund said.

     "Trouble," Caspian corrected.

     They both knew that Eustace had probably been here, exploring, so they decided to search.

     Edmund spotted a flattened shoe on the ground and recognized it to be Eustace's. He picked it up, muttering his cousin's name with an anxious voice, before finding a pile of the boy's smoldering and smoking clothing. He picked up the boy's diary, turning it over in his hands.

     "Oh, cousin," he muttered.

     "I'm sorry," Caspian said.

     "He was just a boy," Edmund quietly stated, guilt overtaking him. "I never should have left him." Looking through the boy's singed belongings, Edmund inquired, "What could have happened to him?"

     "In this place?" Caspian said, looking around and spotting another victim against the wall of the ravine. "Anything." He stood up and approached the skeleton. "And he wasn't the first."

     Edmund stood up to look at the skeleton.

     "It's Lord Octesian," Caspian announced upon further examination, turning around. "We should find his...-"

     He saw that Edmund had already found the sword by a nearby chest.

     "...sword."

     Edmund unsheathed the sword, inspecting it, before walking again. "We need to find Morgan. There's no guarantee that she even found Eustace. There's no trace of her here. If she befell the same fate Eustace and that lord did, her things would be here, too."

     Caspian sighed, nodding. They needed to get out of the ravine and search.

     I woke up for the first time in a while with the absence of night terrors, but it wasn't nighttime. It was the middle of the day - at least, it was before, when I first got here. Truthfully, I had no idea what time it was, now.

     I looked around, but felt like something was covering me from head to toe. It felt like fabric. My right hand was killing me, and so was the left side of my face. It was absolutely pitch black, and I tried to dig my way out of whatever was covering me. Once I finally escaped, the air was a little fresher, but not much since I was trapped in a dusty cave that collapsed recently.

     Only... something was definitely different. I was on all fours. I tried to stand on two but fell on my back. I could actually see in the dark. I tried to say "What the heck is going on?" but all that came out were the sounds a cat makes.

Well... I was now a cat. A chocolate-brown one (to match my - very human - brown mop of wavy hair) with very soft fur and large, round, bright green eyes.

     Okay, now I was really confused. And scared. And angry that I was stuck. I growled and padded with a sore limp toward the collapsed entrance and started yowling to hopefully get someone to hear me.

     After several minutes of yelling and screaming, I rested my voice and wandered around the cave, now that I could see a little. It was easier to see deeper inside, and the cave was lined with gemstones. I padded over to the one I picked up earlier and batted it with my uninjured hand - or, now, paw. Watching it bounce and roll made me want to do it more (and if anyone else were there, they'd have seen my pupils grow huge), and I did.

     After a little while of smacking the pretty gem around and tripping over my cross necklace that dragged on the ground everywhere, I yawned and limped back to the entrance. I started yowling again, trying to get someone to hear me so they could get me out.

     The more I did it, the quieter I got because of the soreness in my throat, and I exhaled sharply out of my nose before padding back to my discarded clothing and curling up on it. I buried my nose under my fluffy tail, feeling my eyes and nose burn at the realization that I would never see the light of day again. I looked over at the pink gem sitting on the dirt before inching over to it and rolling it over with my good paw. I put my head down again and stared at the gem.

     If I were to die in here, at least I'd have a pretty little gemstone and my cross necklace to keep me company.

     I awoke to the sound of crumbling rocks and loud growling. I immediately jumped to my paws and my hair stood on end at the light of the moon streaming in, more and more of it dimly lighting up the cave.

     I saw a large silhouette that seemed to be what was unblocking the entrance. It was an animal, some kind of ginormous creature. Once there was enough room for it to get in, I realized what it was. It was a dragon. A bright, sandy yellow dragon.

     I immediately backed away (leaving a small speckled trail of blood on the stone because of reopening the cut) with my back arched and my hair raised, as I had no idea what to make of this.

     The dragon, now halfway into the cave, looked at me as I backed into the wall.

     I didn't know whether to growl, scream, or just do nothing but stare, knowing I was gonna die.

     It didn't help when the dragon's head came closer, seemingly curious about the tiny cat that was trying to shrink away, but all I saw was death.

     So, I started hissing and screaming, my ears going flat against my head.

     That seemed to work, as the dragon retreated a little, tilting his head in confusion.

     "Wait!"

     Was that Caspian?

     "Don't get too close, Eustace!"

     Eustace?! That dragon is Eustace?!

There was no way. Well... I was now a cat, so... it didn't really seem so surprising, once I gave it more thought.

     The dragon - "Eustace" - retreated out of the cave, and someone else entered. It was indeed Caspian.

     He slowly approached, so as to not scare me away, but I trusted him completely. Just because I was suddenly a cat didn't mean humans scared me. At least, not the ones I knew already.

     So, it surprised him when I immediately trotted up to him (tripping a couple times in the process because of the necklace, along with the limping) and started purring and rubbing against his leg.

     He was very confused at the change of pace, but crouched down nevertheless. He inspected my fur, which looked like rich milk chocolate that poured from a chocolate fountain. I was a brown british shorthair, and a pretty small one at that.

     He then noticed the necklace dangling around my neck, dragging in the dirt. It was my cross necklace.

     "Morgan..?" he hesitantly said, now open to test whether or not the cat was me, now that the Eustace-dragon thing happened.

     I made a purr-meow noise (mrrp) in my throat as a confirmation, and he sighed, covering his face with his hands. What on earth was happening?

"Drinian was worried sick about you," Caspian explained when he removed his hand from his face, "and he still is, but he couldn't leave the crew behind. They had to go back on the ship, but we've decided to stay because of Eustace now being too big to be on the ship. At least you're safe now, even if you're... well... a cat."

"Mrrp."

     "Morgan?" another voice rang out, and I could tell it was Lucy. She'd seen the little exchange, and realized the cat was me.

     I immediately ran over (again, tripping and limping a couple times) and meowed at her. She picked me up and I climbed onto her shoulders, making her squeal as my fur tickled her neck, and lied down and draped myself over her shoulders like a short scarf. I purred and she smiled, stroking the fur on my head.

     Reepicheep, who had been on Eustace's face, talking to him, entered the cave, having no knowledge of what I'd become. So, naturally, he was confused as to why I was still missing, why my clothes were strewn across the floor, and why there was a random brown cat wearing a cross necklace - my necklace - draped across Lucy's shoulders.

     "What on Aslan's green earth is going on?" he inquired rather loudly, and I turned to look at the musketeer mouse with wide eyes.

     Feeling excited to see him again, I leapt down from Lucy's shoulders and landed with a painful stumble and a brief grunt in front of the mouse, who yelled in fright and unsheathed his sword at me and pointed it with a shaky paw at my nose.

     "It's looking at me," he yelled, sword shaking as I followed it with my eyes. "Why's it looking at me? Has it got a hankering for mouse flesh?!"

     Caspian laughed, walking over. "Relax, my little friend. It's Morgan. She was turned into a cat, just as Eustace was turned into a dragon. He was tempted by the treasure, which would be greed, so this must have something to do with curiosity. You know the saying. She won't hurt you, she's just excited to see you after being stuck in here for so long. Besides, she's about as tall as you are! Right, Angel?"

     Looking over my shoulder at him as I sat down, I made another "mrrrp" noise as confirmation before turning back to Reep.

     "Oh," he breathed out in relief, lowering his sword as he placed a paw on his chest, "I was worried for a moment!"

     "Mrrp," I said, reaching my good paw out to pat his little head.

     Despite not liking being pet, he sat and took it.

I turned back and padded to my discarded clothing and satchel. I saw the pretty pink gem on the ground right next to my clothes and turned to walk toward it. I wanted to keep it. Once I reached it, I gave it a cautious sniff before picking it up with my teeth and going to my satchel. I pawed the flap so it opened and I dropped the gem in the opening before using my claws to grip the flap and close it again.

     Caspian and Edmund stood off to the side, still a little confused and shocked.

     "I can't believe the girl I like was turned into a cat," the King muttered to the boy next to him. He had recently admitted to the younger boy, who'd been nagging him about it, that he had a crush. Edmund had only grinned, saying it took him long enough, which annoyed Caspian a little.

     The latter let out a scoff.

     "I can't believe either of them were turned into animals, let alone a fire-breathing dragon. Though, this is about the most normal thing I've seen since I arrived the very first time, to be honest."

     Caspian chuckled before turning to the others, which consisted of Lucy, Edmund, Reepicheep, and Eustace, who was still outside the cave.

"Alright, let's go back to the shore to camp out for the night," Caspian said, walking over to me and grabbing my satchel and clothing (when he bent down to grab the items, I jumped up onto his shoulders). "Can't have a humongous dragon sleeping on the ship; he'll probably sink it."

A loud, offended growl came from outside, and everyone chuckled.

"I've never seen these constellations before," Edmund muttered, as the sky had now filled with new, foreign stars.

"Me neither," Caspian, who was sat on a rock, replied, before looking down at me as I was curled up next to Lucy a few feet away. "At least, not until Morgan showed me. She gave me a new perspective on astronomy." He paused, watching as I got up and stretched at the sound of my name. "We're a long way from home."

I padded toward the boys (raising my paw to not get sand in the cut), seeing that Edmund was laying on his back beside where Caspian sat. I padded to my childhood friend and made a "mrrp" sound before walking on top of his belly and chest.

He chuckled, as did Caspian, and I curled up as Caspian continued with his eyes trained back onto the stars.

"When I was a boy, I used to imagine sailing to the end of the world... finding my father there."

"Maybe you will," Edmund said, trying to be optimistic.

"Mrrp."

"Thank you, Edmund; thank you, Angel," Caspian chuckled. He glanced down at me after a moment, seeing that I had laid my head down and that Edmund had closed his eyes. Eyes trained on my new form, he sighed and rubbed his eyes. He needed to get some sleep and stop worrying about me so much, especially when I had been turned into an animal.

Caspian slid down and lied down comfortably on the sand. It took him a little while to fall asleep, but looking at the galaxy band across the sky and remembering what I told him about astronomy eventually lulled him to sleep.

Caspian awoke to a groan coming from his right.

Lifting his head, he looked over at Edmund to find me - as a human, now - curled up on top of him in... a new dress..?

Edmund lifted his head to see why there was a heavy weight suddenly on his chest and stomach, eyes widening to see that it was me, and there was no cat.

Excited that I was back, completely forgetting about the awkward moment, he leapt forward and woke me up with a tight hug. "Gracie! You're back, and you're you again!"

Caspian was confused. If Eustace was still a dragon (one which was still fast asleep and in a deep sleep), how was I no longer a cat?

Nevertheless, he came over and grabbed my hand. "You're not a cat anymore, Love."

I looked around, still half asleep, seeing Edmund and Caspian. "I think that's the hardest I've slept in... ever."

The boys laughed before helping me up.

"Well, you've a pretty