@Ren: I like that image!
@Islie: There is such a beautiful comfort in that scene with Aslan. Even when we don't see Him, even when we feel alone, even when danger lurks nearby (known or not), looking back and realizing He was there all along.... This is why it's my favourite scene.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
@Ajjie: Ah, how did you know I wanted to read something like that?
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
Good little piece on Lune's reflections on the boy-who-could-be-his-son.
Chapter 13
"If you funk this, you'll funk every battle all your life. Now or never." I wonder if this ever came to mind as Cor trained in the swordfighting? Lewis says he was an excellent swordsman when he was grown.
I've wondered for some time what the purpose of the hermit's... hermitage is. It is not as though he's cut himself wholly off from the world, as he plays host with the ease of one who's done it many times, he has a pool by which he can see the events of the world (and knows who he's watching), the like. There's something about him that feels a little like the hosts one might find in Pilgrim's Progress, the kindly homes of rest and restoration as well as instruction and council. I've sort of toyed a little with ideas about him, but apart from a short piece for a writing contest here some time ago, I haven't written any more of these thoughts out.
Lune is such a remarkable blend of characteristics. He is merry and stern, just and jesting, deferent and authoritative. And none of these contradict the others. In a way, he sort of reminds me of Frank in MN: a good and honest sort of man, who thus makes for a good sort of king.
Chapter 14:
Interesting that the hermit didn't clue into Shasta's identity. Perhaps it had slipped from memory, like in Ajjie's fic. Perhaps he'd simply dismissed it as a case of coincidence. Perhaps he did have an idea but did not voice it for one reason or another.
Funny that Bree suggests that even Aravis should know that "Aslan is a real lion" is an absurd idea. She's come out of a religion that worships gods of beast-like form (or at the very least, Tash fits this description). If anything, Aslan's being a lion may actually be
less absurd to her than it is to Bree. Bree, being a Beast, considers the notion of Aslan's also being a Beast to be "disrespectful": surely someone so high above all else could not possibly be anything so low as a Beast! (Much like how Jesus, the Son of God, humbled Himself and dwelt among us in human flesh.) Aravis, on the other hand, had worshipped at least one god with beastial qualities, beings she believed higher than herself. Besides the very appearance of Aslan inspiring awe, perhaps there is some of this background behind the reactions Bree and Aravis have to him: a humbling experience for both as Bree learns that Aslan (for all his majesty!) has the lowly form of a Beast and as Aravis meets a Being so very unlike herself that he cannot be anything but powerful.
(I wonder if I ought to do some research on warships back in the day. Lune embarked "within twenty minutes", which is rather not like Bree's statement about two hundred men and horse marching within an hour.)
(Shasta may not know the story of the man in the rowboat, but that didn't stop me from writing his last hours!
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11312894/1 ... e-a-Prince (fanfiction.net is not affiliated with TLC; click at thine own risk))
"They're not like me, they've been properly brought up." This is both funny and sad. Funny in that Cor figures that the best way to appeal to Aravis is to offer her something she's better used to, even if he's got to talk down on himself. Sad in that I think he may have felt some of the loneliness Aravis had been feeling earlier (though not as acutely, given his family reunion with a brother he'd already become friends with and the fabulous father that is Lune), and he's desperate to have the familiarity of his travelling companion. At the same time, I think it shows (again) how he is concerned for her happiness and well-being. He could have gone and enjoyed himself with all the luxuries his new life had to offer, but he also took the time to actually think about Aravis' situation, and how his new life might suit her as well.