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NOW SAFELY ON THE SHIP, CASPIAN TURNED to me once again, addressing Lucy. "Is this the childhood friend you've told me so much about last time you were here?"

My heart skipped a beat, and I looked up at him. He was a great deal taller than me, having to stand at - at least - six feet. I was only five foot four, so I had to crane my neck to look up at him. He was undoubtedly handsome, like Lucy said he was. Actually, probably more so. Now that we weren't in the water, I could make out more of his facial features; he had kind eyes and clear skin, save for a scar over his right eye that he must have procured last time the Pevensies were in Narnia (due to the fact that they were quite literally at war with the Telmarines). His lips were pulled into a congenial smile. He had such dark, voided eyes that seemed both ominous and kind at the same time. It was almost... enigmatic, in a way.

     I glanced over at Lucy, my embarrassment and nervousness most definitely conspicuous on my face. "You told him about me?"

She nodded in response, and that answered Caspian's question.

"Morgan, right?"

     My heart skipped a beat yet again as I looked back up at him. "Ye-yeah, that's correct," I replied, internally cursing the waver in my voice. "I was told a lot about you, too. Prince - or, now King - Caspian?"

     He nodded, the kind smile never having left his face.

Lucy had a knowing smile on her face, and I scowled at her. She let out a laugh. She came up beside me on my left, Caspian on my right. I briefly noticed a large creature to our left that resembled a bull - actually, there seemed to be a few horned creatures walking on two legs, but my focus was diverted to Caspian when he spoke up.

"How in the world did you end up here?" he asked, grinning at Lucy as he led us toward the stern of the ship.

     "I have no idea," she replied, chuckling, before someone called his name.

     We turned to see Edmund walking up, and Caspian walked over to greet him. "Edmund," he said, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as he started toward us. "It's great to see you."

"Good to see you," Edmund replied, an arm on Caspian's back as they reached us.

"Didn't you call for us?" Lucy asked, her and I beginning to walk alongside them.

"No," he said, letting his hand drop from Edmund's shoulder so the boy could wrap his blanket around himself. "Not this time."

Edmund looked elated. "Well, whatever the case, I'm just glad to be here."

I jumped harshly at the abrupt sound of a scream. It sounded like Eustace. I let out a sigh, before I turned to see a sight that made my eyes widen in shock and confusion.

"Don't touch me!" he hollered, having been tackled by a large mouse with a musketeer feather hat fashioned around one of his ears.

     Lucy, Edmund, Caspian and I looked at the scene, facial expressions varying in appearance; Lucy looked done, Edmund looked borderline annoyed, Caspian looked amused, and I looked utterly confused.

     "Get that thing off me!" He managed to throw the mouse off of him, and the mouse came tumbling over at our feet, panting as he sent a glare to the boy.

"Reepicheep!" Lucy exclaimed, both her and Edmund adorned with happy looks on their faces.

     My eyebrows shot up in surprise. This was the mighty musketeer mouse they'd told me about?

Said mouse turned to look at her, surprise overcoming his adorable features at the familiar faces. "Oh. Your Majesties." He bowed a little, eliciting a laugh out of Lucy.

"Hello, Reep," Edmund greeted. "What a pleasure."

"The pleasure is all mine, sir," the mouse responded, before turning to me. "But first, who is this lovely lady?"

     My mouth dropped open as a surprised smile overtook my face, along with a brief laugh. "My name is Morgan," I introduced, mimicking his little bow he did a moment before. I earned a few chuckles from that, and stood up straight again. "You must be the mighty musketeer mouse that I've heard so much about."

He let out an overly dramatic gasp, turning to Edmund and Lucy. "You've spoken of me?!" He looked so happy, and my smile grew.

     Caspian glanced over at me for a moment, to my obliviousness, and turned to look at the Pevensies as Lucy giggled, nodding.

"Of course we have, Reep," she said, "how could we not? You're legendary!"

Reepicheep placed a paw on his chest, where his small heart was. "I'm honoured, Your Majesty."

     She smiled once again, and I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at this unbelievable, magical, amusing experience.

     "Well, now that we've been properly acquainted," Reep kindly gestured to me before turning away, "what to do about this... this..." he paused to find the right words. "...hysterical interloper?"

     I let out another laugh at that as he turned to look at a vigorously-coughing Eustace on his hands and knees.

"That giant rat thing just tried to claw my face off!" he complained loudly, turning and pointing an accusatory finger at Reep.

     I couldn't help but grin, and I tucked my bottom lip between my teeth to keep from laughing.

     Caspian seemed to notice, as he lowered his head with an amused smile.

"I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs, sir," Reepicheep replied, clearly and thoroughly as amused as I was.

Eustace rushed to stand up, clearly horrified that this adorable and exceptionally polite mouse was speaking, and speaking to him no less.

"It talked! Did you see..." he exclaimed, having not put his accusatory finger (still pointed at the mouse he was freaking out about) down. "...anyone just hear that?" He had a hysterical look on his face that only made me clamp my teeth onto my bottom lip harder in effort not to laugh and embarrass the boy further. "It... it just talked!"

"He always talks," another crewmember stated nonchalantly, but, judging my his body language, he was enjoying every moment of it, as was everyone else.

"Actually, it's getting him to shut up that's the trick," Caspian piped up, gaining the crew's attention.

     I snorted a little before slapping my hands over my mouth to conceal the smile I had on, hearing other crewmembers laughing at what the young King said.

"The moment there is nothing to be said, Your Highness," Reep said as he turned to Caspian, "I promise you, I will not say it."

     The boy next to her only smiled at the mouse.

"Look," Eustace snapped, still quite hysterically, "I don't know what kind of prank this is, but I wanna wake up right now!"

Reep looked up at Caspian again. "Perhaps we could throw him back," he suggested, the irate yelling of Eustace still ringing out in the background for the mouse to promptly ignore.

I hate to admit it, but I briefly considered the suggestion. I internally scolded myself, though, for even thinking such a thing.

Lucy and Edmund shared a glance, and I glanced at Caspian to gauge his reaction as Eustace blabbed on, something along the lines of calling the crew a "seafaring carnival."

He glanced down at me, rolling his eyes subtly. I chuckled, turning to look between Reep and the angry Eustace.

"Edmund!" Lucy scolded with a slap to the arm, clearly knowing that he, too, was thinking about Reep's morbid suggestion.

     I looked down, silently laughing.

     A subtle grin showed up on Edmund's face at Lucy's scolding and my laughing, and Caspian shook his head with a smile as some of the crewmembers procured quite a lot of amusement from this whole exchange.

Eustace, seemingly on the verge of angry tears, stomped toward a group of grinning men. "I demand to know just where in the blazes am I?!"

"You're on the Dawn Treader, the finest ship in Narnia's navy," a Minotaur answered, stepping up between two of the men Eustace had yelled at.

In response to the completely normal statement, Eustace passed out and hit the deck with a thud.

I gasped, my jaw dropping as laughter rang out. I almost felt bad for Eustace. But, after that particular "orphan" exchange back before any of this started, I couldn't really bring myself to. I looked between Caspian and the Pevensies. "Is it a bad thing that I don't particularly feel... bad for him?" I asked reluctantly.

Edmund smiled, shaking his head. "Nah, Gracie, I don't think it's a bad thing."

"Edmund!" Lucy yelled again, smacking his arm. Again. Harder this time, however, and he winced.

Caspian approached the Minotaur as he looked around in a confused and slightly concerned manner.

     I followed behind, mesmerized by the large creature.

"Was it something I said?" he asked, looking between Caspian and I.

     I liked his voice, it was deep and raspy, and it had a low bass in its undertones. He seemed like such a nice creature, despite his intimidating appearance.

I shook my head at the Minotaur, smiling widely. "I don't think it was. I think he's just a little, uh..." I paused, searching for non-offensive words. "...not used to seeing extraordinary creatures such as yourself."

The Minotaur tilted his head in surprise, his ears lifting. "Really?" he asked in a small voice, which I couldn't help but think was adorable, especially for such a large creature.

Caspian glanced at me, equally caught off guard. Apparently, not many people who saw a Minotaur for the first time were so fascinated, as their reactions tended to have likeness to Eustace's.

I nodded, unable to wipe the smile off of my face. "I've never seen such a creature before, so it's new to me as well. But, unlike him," I gestured to the unconscious Eustace, "I find you fascinating!"

The Minotaur took a couple steps toward me, holding his hands - hooves? - to his chest. "I- nobody's said something like that to me, before, Miss. May I ask - what is the lovely lady's name?"

I bit my lip to try and stifle the bashful laugh that threatened to escape. "That's the second time someone's called me a lovely lady, today," I said, before I held a hand out to him. "My name is Morgan."

The soft-spoken Minotaur reached his hooved hands out, taking my hand with one and placing his other one overtop. "I'm Tavros," he bowed his head briefly. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, M'lady."

"The pleasure is all mine, Sir Tavros," I replied, nodding my head as well. "I expect we'll become good friends."

     He nodded twice before letting go of my hand and turning to glance at Eustace, who was still out cold.

"See to him, will you?" Caspian requested, a smile still on his face.

I looked over at him. I'd forgotten he was there, for a moment.

Tavros nodded at Caspian. "Your Majesty."

The King turned to walk back toward the stern.

Tavros looked back at Eustace, sighing before he chuckled shortly.

     I could tell he felt a little bad for the boy, and that made my heart squeeze a little. I smiled warmly at the Minotaur, seeing how much he cared. He was no beast; he was a creature with a heart of gold, much like many on the ship, like many people I'd known throughout my life.

     I lingered for a few moments, watching Tavros crouch by Eustace, gentleness and care radiating off of him. It was so captivating how such a large, intimidating creature could hold so much emotion. Usually, bulls were aggressive and unpredictable back home. Old mythology back home said that Minotaurs were vicious and hostile creatures. However, this was a whole different story. I felt my newfound respect for Tavros skyrocket at the way he carried himself; confident at best, timid at worst, but soft-spoken and gentle.

     I smiled again and turned to follow where Caspian went as the Minotaur tended to Eustace.

However, just as I was about to make my way toward the stern, a high-pitched chittering noise came from my left. I turned to see a small capuchin monkey hanging from the shroud. I smiled as it tilted its little head at me, letting out another chitter. A tiny little pirate outfit seemed to have been put together for it; a red vest striped with gold, with poofy white sleeves poking out underneath. It was just the cutest little thing.

     I cautiously reached my hand out, making sure that it wouldn't bite me, or anything, but it didn't do that or move away. It didn't even seem to mind when I gave its furry head a few scratches. I'd have to find some fruit, or something, to give it. It was too cute, so how could I not?

     It chittered happily once I removed my finger from its soft head and scurried toward the stern, running along the banister, jumping up next to where the wheel of the ship was. It perched on the banister, next to where the Dawn Treader Captain stood.

I glanced at the monkey again and asked someone nearby, "What's the name of that adorable little capuchin?"

"His name is Jack," the crewman replied. "He's been a part of our crew for quite some time. The man who owned him sadly passed recently, so Jack has just been jumping around the shoulders and heads of everyone here. He was even fashioned his own little hammock and outfit - the latter of which you saw already. He's a part of our crew." He was about to turn away before he quickly looked back at me. "Oh, and, if you were to ever wonder what his favorite food is, it's grapes."

     "Thank you, sir," I chuckled at his enthusiasm, and he nodded, walking away. I turned to look back at where Jack was, next to the Captain.

     That brought my attention back to Caspian and my best friends as the King began to speak from the stairs.

"Men," Caspian called out, jumping onto the second step of the stairs that led to the stern of the ship. He turned toward the crew. "Behold our castaways..." He glanced at the Pevensies. "...Edmund the Just, Lucy the Valiant..." I smiled as I looked at my best friends, remembering the numerous times they had mentioned their royal names they had procured from their first trip to Narnia. "High King and Queen of Narnia..."

I looked around to see all the crewmembers kneeling, and I smiled at my best friends, playfully kneeling as well.

     Lucy rolled her eyes, grinning.

     Edmund seemed very happy about something, looking down at the floor in front of him with a wide smile.

"...and Morgan the Gracious."

I looked up at Caspian in shock, seeing Lucy and Edmund smiling warmly at me, and I felt my heart thrum in my chest.

     Was that what Edmund seemed so elated about? Had Caspian come up with that just now? Had Lucy and Edmund spoken to him while I was distracted with Tavros and Jack?

     Caspian smiled at my reaction, and I believed Lucy and Edmund had to have something to do with that. I wasn't complaining at the lovely name, but it was completely unexpected - especially given the fact that this was my first time in Narnia, so I had no experience outside of my comfort zone and the normalcy back at home.

Lucy came over to me. "Stand up, you don't have to bow." She helped me to my feet.

"You're royalty," I stated, playfully scowling at her. "Of course I'm gonna bow when everyone else does."

Lucy shook her head vigorously, laughing. "No, stop that. Don't bow, okay? You're practically family, so we consider you a queen as well." She smiled at me. "Besides, you have a new name of your own."

     I huffed in amusement, but relented and stood.

"Come on," Caspian said, stepping down from the steps and walking over to us with Edmund. "Let's show you around the ship, shall we?"

     After we had each been given a new, dry change of clothes, Caspian introduced us to the crewmembers of the ship, and they were really nice people. Er, creatures, too. There were two Minotaurs and what looked kind of like a Minotaur, but had more goat-like features. I didn't know what the creature was called. Then, there was Reep, whom we already knew.

     I had a lot of pleasant conversations with the different crewmembers, and I could tell that this journey - whatever may happen or wherever it may lead - would be a pleasant one. I could feel it; the comradery between the people on the ship buzzed through them like an electric current, and it made the whole ship feel alive. It was almost life-changing. Well, this whole experience was life-changing. We were in a whole different world! How could it not be?

     The capuchin, Jack, landed on my right shoulder from goodness only knows where (giving me a fright), chittered at me as if telling me something exciting, and then launched himself onto the shoulders of another crew member before disappearing off to wherever his tiny heart desired. Such a cute little creature.

     We were led down below the deck to see the sleeping quarters. It was filled with hammocks and boxes of belongings. Lanterns hung idly from posts, emanating a warm glow that shone on the different surfaces around. It was cozy, despite there not being much space between hammocks and personal-belonging-filled crates.

     Then, I spotted it. The tiny hammock! It was fashioned on the ceiling next to a wood pole that had pegs and nails sticking out of it (don't worry, the flat heads of the nails were out, not the sharp points of them) specifically for the monkey to climb up to his hammock. There was even a lantern a few inches away for some dim lighting for him. Wow; he really was treated like just another member of the crew. How sweet!

     Caspian showed us around the bow of the ship, and it was the neck and head of a large emerald green dragon carved intricately out of wood. Its mouth was agape widely, as if rearing back to strike an adversary it had gotten into battle with.

     Sometime, I might have to climb to the top of it, I thought to myself, tilting my head as I studied every sharp scale on the neck of the dragon. There was a ladder between the rows of spikes trailing down its neck on either side, all the way down to the deck. There seemed to be a gold-painted plate of armor wrapped around the dragon's chest if I could remember correctly from when I was in the water, staring at the rapidly approaching ship that I thought would kill me with its mouth wide open like that. There were small, rounded wings coming off of the dragon's wooden shoulders, and the matching green banisters lining the edges of the deck branched off of them. The bow that we stood on almost seemed to resemble a saddle, the wood a similar colour to the armour on the dragon's chest. It almost looked like it wrapped around.

     The large sail attached to the mast was a dullish purple, with a gold crest and other designs surrounding it in a hollow golden ring. The crest consisted of two lions facing the center, surrounding a gold elliptical shape with a purple crown in the middle. In a gold-lined box below the crest, there sat a certain symbol that I didn't know of. Well, obviously I didn't know of it, because I've never actually been here before.

     On the stern was a large, curled tail that matched the bow in colour and scale pattern. A double trail of spikes ran from the base of it, all the way to the end of the tail, the two trails merging into one halfway. There was another piece of what resembled armour underneath the tail, running down the