Disclaimer: Narnia and everything in it belongs to C.S. Lewis

A/N: Thank you everyone for all your kind reviews and continued support! (hands out biscuits)

Just a note for this story, in regards to the High Speech, etc, I'm not sure how in-depth with that I will go, but I will still stay true to the story and canon : -) Would you, as readers, prefer more High Speech?

Your reviews, comments, suggestions, fav parts/characters are very much appreciated, and of course, extremely welcomed!

The Forbidden Isle

Edmund woke with a jolt, quite suddenly aware of bright sunlight piercing through his eyelids. He slowly brought up his hand to cover his eyes, causing a twinge of pain to run through his body. It felt as if he had been tossed from a balcony, and while he sussed nothing that awful had actually happened, his body didn't agree. Very slowly, he sat up, wincing as his muscles protested the movement. Careful to keep his hand shielding his vision, he opened his eyes and blinked a few times before becoming accustomed to the intense light. What he saw was a very unfamiliar beach, and a very blue ocean that seemed to stretch endlessly to the horizon. A few waves lapped at the shore, creating a soothing, rhythmic noise.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sounds of his siblings awakening around him, and looked over to his right where they were slowly sitting up.

"W-Where are we?" asked Susan, blinking as her eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight.

"On an island in the middle of nowhere, most likely," said Edmund as he looked around at the untamed jungle behind them, and the ocean before them.

"You don't know that," pointed out Susan. "We could very well be on the beach of Galma, or one of the Lone Islands."

"And how often do large, strange storms that turn everything to darkness, deposit you on an island you want to be deposited on?" retorted Edmund.

"He has a point," said Peter as he stood slowly. If he was in pain, he didn't show it, but then again, it was Peter and he never showed weakness – one of the more annoying traits of Edmund's older brother. Peter offered his hands to Lucy and Susan, helping them to their feet, and then offered a hand to Edmund.

"I'm just trying to be optimistic. You don't have to be so tetchy." said Susan with a frown as Peter helped Edmund to his feet. Edmund took a few moments to rub his sore muscles, looking around the beach and then at the dark jungle. In the distance he could see rocky cliffs rising into the sky, but other than that, no sign of anything or anyone.

"Well, perhaps there are people here, we just need to find them!" said Lucy cheerfully, smiling at them.

"Possibly," said Susan, still frowning.

Edmund tuned them out as they continued to talk, continuing to gaze around the island. He frowned, but this wasn't an unhappy frown, it was more pensive. At the mention of other people…where is our crew? he thought, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. Something about this island was unsettling, and he could feel the small hairs at the back of his neck prickle.

"Ed, what's wrong?" asked Peter, snapping Edmund out of his gloomy thoughts.

"Well, haven't you noticed?" he asked, motioning around them. "There's no one else here."

"Obviously," said Susan, slightly sarcastic, but her features grew grave as she looked around.

Edmund ignored her and continued, "Where is our crew? Where are all the men who were with us on the ship? Where is our ship? There ought to be some sort of wreckage, but there's no sign of anything or anyone. No debris, no footprints, nothing."

"By the Lion's Mane, I didn't think about it that way," said Peter, his features thoughtful. "There was the storm, then it turned black, and then we woke up here."

"Perhaps the storm dropped us here," offered Lucy.

"Lu, honestly," said Susan, shaking her head. "Must I always be the voice of reason? You three are carrying on as if this is something supernatural, when it could just be nature itself. We don't know what happened after the storm hit the ship, the debris could be at the bottom of the ocean, and it's quite possible that the rest of the crew washed up on a completely different side of the island." But even as Susan spoke these words, she didn't appear to believe them. She was grasping at straws, trying to keep any sort of supernatural force out of question, and out of their discussion. Especially after their battle with Sirrian, Susan had not taken very highly to supernatural events, or any discussion of them.

"Well, either way, we ought to see if we can find someone," said Peter, resting a hand on Susan's shoulder. "Besides, it'll be night eventually, and hopefully we'll be able to find shelter and food before then. Shall we?"

Susan sighed. "I suppose I have no choice."

"Cheer up, Susan!" said Lucy, smiling at her older sister. "It's another adventure, and high time we had one! We'll find someone – we cannot be the only ones on this island, especially since our crew was with us last time." She motioned to the three of them. "Come on!" She grinned and then began walking towards the jungle, with a slight bounce in her step.

"She's always so cheerful, even in the most hopeless of situations," chuckled Peter as he and Susan followed their sister.

Edmund stayed a few paces behind, still looking around. The initial pain he had experienced had mostly vanished, and now his focus was on the gut-feeling he had – the one that said they shouldn't be going anywhere, but who was he to argue? Over the years, his siblings had learned to trust his instincts about character, among other things, but he always had something to back him up. This time, he had nothing. However, as long as they stayed together, he felt that in the end, they would fare better; that was the only thing propelling him forward after his siblings. They were already at the edge of the jungle, and he could barely hear their voices anymore.

As he walked, his foot caught on something in the sand, and he paused, looking down. It looked to be some sort of smooth rock, but it wasn't like anything he had ever seen. Edmund bent down, digging his fingers into the stand, trying to find where the edges of the stone were. When he finally had a grip, he lifted it out of the sand. When he saw what it was, the color drained from his face. He let out a strangled cry, immediately dropping the object.

It was a human skull.

This is bad….very bad!

When they saw Edmund wasn't following them, Peter, Susan, and Lucy all turned around. "Ed, what are you dossing about for? Come on!" called Peter, making a motion for Edmund to follow them.

There must have been something off on Edmund's features, for suddenly all three siblings grew serious, and ran over to him. "Edmund? What's wrong?" asked Susan, looking concerned. "You're as white as a sheet!"

Edmund couldn't speak, and merely pointed to the object lying in the sand. Lucy bent down and picked up the object. She let out a gasp of surprise, and quickly dropped it. "It – it's human!"

"Poor chap," said Peter, his brow furrowed from concentration. "I wonder what happened to him or how he came to be here in the first place…"

"Well I suggest we move from this area," suggested Edmund, looking around warily. "I personally do not wish to end up like him."

"Edmund's right, we should go," said Susan, managing to avoid looking at the skull. When Edmund started walking towards the jungle, Susan quickly hurried to catch up to him.

Peter nodded and followed.

Lucy, however, was still looking at the skull as the other three walked away. Edmund turned and watched as Lucy bent down and picked up something, putting it into the small pouch by her dagger. What is she doing? he wondered, watching her curiously.

When she finally ran over to them, she gave them a quick smile and said, "Shall we?"

Edmund was still curious about what she had picked up, but he filed it to the back of his mind to ask her later. Their first priority was finding some sort of shelter and food, because if they didn't soon, they were not going to last for very much longer.

--

Hours later, they were still walking through the jungle, and still had not seen any sign of another human being. After what Edmund had found in the sand, he had been unusually quiet. Now that they were deep in the jungle, he couldn't help but have the feeling that something was watching them. This feeling continued to grow, even after they found a small stream and drank their fill; even after they found some wild berries and fruit for food; and especially after it started to grow dark. Thanks to the countless survival guides and books that Edmund had read over the years, they were able to build a small fire. It wasn't a cold island, and even as the darkness crept over the island, it still remained at a comfortable temperature. However, they needed the light from the fire, as well as protection from whatever could be out there.

"Do you suppose we'll find the other side of the island tomorrow?" asked Lucy as they sat around the fire, eating the small fruits they had collected earlier that evening.

"I would rather we find people first," said Susan as she ate her last piece of fruit. "It's rather unsettling that we could be the only ones on this island."

"Finding that skull doesn't exactly bode well for finding other people," pointed out Edmund. "We would most likely run into the sort that we don't wish to run into."

"Oh don't start up on that Ed," said Susan with a sigh.

"I'm just stating the facts," retorted Edmund with a frown. He glanced over at Lucy, watching as she removed something from her pouch. However, as soon as she realised they were all looking at her, she flushed and put it away quickly. "Lu, what is that?"

"Nothing," said Lucy quickly, attempting at an innocent smile.

"Lucy," said Peter sternly.

Lucy sighed, and reached into the pouch to pull out the object. She set it in her palm and held out her hand so that they could all see. It was a tiny amulet, with green stones set into a silver backing. Edmund felt his stomach twist and knot up as memories enveloped him. Those stones had been nothing but trouble. They had no idea where they had come from, or what powers were embedded within them, but he knew one thing for sure: they only caused suffering.

Edmund's features must have betrayed his inward feelings, because Lucy immediately set the amulet aside and touched Edmund's arm gently. "Ed," she said quietly, looking at him with concern. "This is why I didn't wish to show you…or to bother you with it - I didn't want you to go through this."

"I'm fine," said Edmund, batting away her hand. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly, and then looked around at them. He scowled when he saw all of them looking at him in concern. "Honestly, I'm fine, stop fretting. Now what are we going to do about this amulet? It's obviously not the first one we've encountered, and we all know what has happened in the past."

Peter looked ready to protest Edmund's declaration, but then he only said, "Even King Feldhliem was unsure of the origins of those stones, and we've had nothing but bad luck with them, this is true."

"But what to do we do about it?" pushed Edmund. He looked over at Lucy. "You found this by the skull?"

"It was inside it," said Lucy.

"Well that's odd for an amulet of any sort," mused Peter. "It must have been placed there…hidden perhaps?"

"But who would hide it in a skull?" asked Susan, arching an eyebrow.

"It was almost completely buried when I found it," said Edmund. "The tide could have receded, drawing the sand back, and revealing it. There's really no way of finding out how long it has been there."

"Does that matter?" asked Susan.

"If it was recently buried there, then that means there are other people here," pointed out Edmund.

"Which means it's quite possible that we could run into someone," said Peter, glancing around.

Edmund was quiet during their discussion, gazing into the fire. He waited a few moments before saying softly, "Well, finding this amulet has opened up another possibility." He glanced up, seeing that all of his siblings were looking at him with anticipation. "Finding this amulet here could very well be the reason why we were taken here, after that storm hit us. We all know those amulets can vary in power, and perhaps this one is able to draw people to where it lays. These are just musings, of course," added Edmund quickly. "We don't know anything for certain."

"You may be on to something Ed," said Peter, looking thoughtful.

"Well either way, we should all try and get some sleep," said Lucy. "We can take shifts on who stays awake and keeps the fire going, and then in the morning we can explore some more and see if can find anything else."

"Good idea Lu," said Peter with a smile. "I'll take the first watch."

Edmund frowned slightly, but laid down on his back, staring up at the dark treetops. Here and there he could spot the bright stars in the areas where the trees hadn't quite covered the night sky. Another amulet…why do we keep finding these? Why is it always us? I thought we had rid ourselves of things like this. The last one wasn't completely horrid, though switching bodies with my sister wasn't exactly on my list of things I wished to do, but every other time they've caused nothing but pain. Where are they coming from? Is there someone behind all of this? I wonder what we'll find tomorrow…

Edmund shifted slightly, the hard ground not exactly the most comfortable places to sleep, and closed his eyes, drifting off into a restless sleep.

See? No cliffy!

…

For now XD

I will give you this hint: This sequel will answer all of those questions you've had throughout The Way Things Are and Switched concerning the green gems and the amulets that seemed to like popping up every now and then.

Let me know your thoughts and theories! I always love to read them XD and sometimes I can get some pretty amazing ideas from you!