Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.
Summary: "Peter! Your hair!" He jumped and spun to look at me. Then his eyes went wide and he blurted, "My hair? Your hair!"
Additional Disclaimer: Martil, Silvo, Brickit, and the Blue River Smithy are mentioned with the express permission of Elecktrum who was so kind as to let me borrow them...
A/N: This one shot features the consequences of the boys' ill-timed teasing from Chapter 13 of Shields, so you may want to read Shields first or you can give it a whirl on its own. Enjoy!
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17 Snowbrice 1001
I blinked wearily at the canopy over my bed before I sat up with a groan and reluctantly swung my feet to the floor. I hated mornings, but I was more afraid of what Oreius and the other swordmasters would do to me if I failed to show up to training on time. I yawned as I looked across the room to Peter's bed. I couldn't help feeling somewhat disgruntled at how Peter was already up and well on his way to being dressed. He didn't even glance at me as he called over his shoulder, "Hurry up, Ed. We only have ten minutes to get down to the armory."
I growled under my breath, but didn't bother to make the effort to answer. Peter was a morning person, I was not and that was one thing that would never change...no matter how often Oreius seemed to try with his scheduling of our training so early in the mornings. I had yet to figure out what the appeal was for waking up before the sun. With another disgruntled hiss, I groped around in the dark for my boots. The vague thought that my valet, Martil, might have moved them flew right out of my mind when I lit a candle and looked at my brother. I blinked in hopes that what I was seeing was some sort of weird dream, but a double take confirmed it was real. Peter still had his back to me as he fiddled with his belt when I shouted, "Peter! Your hair!"
He jumped and spun to look at me. Then his eyes went wide and he blurted, "My hair? Your hair!"
Yes, his hair- Wait? What? I ran over to the mirror with Peter right beside me and both our jaws dropped as we stared in astonishment at our reflections. We both sported hair that was now orange...a horrifyingly bright shade of orange that I wouldn't have been surprised to learn the blind were able to see it. I tentatively touched my head and said two words in a tone that I never thought I would use as it was on par with the one Susan used when I accidentally spilled some ink on her dress. "My hair!"
Peter hesitantly said, "Well, it's not that bad, Ed."
I gaped at my brother wondering of perhaps he had hit his orange head on something before I woke up. "Maybe for you! You have blond hair anyway. But this? I don't know how it could be much further from my hair."
Peter gave me a semi-sympathetic look before he clapped me on the shoulder, "Come on, Ed. If we're late for training, Oreius will make orange hair the least of our worries for the day."
I rather doubted that even Oreius would manage to come up with a training session that would make me grateful for orange hair. I was suddenly hit with the thought that any one of the Black Dwarfs in the Cair might see me and tell Brickit. I couldn't help groaning at the thought of going to the Blue River Smithy with Brickit knowing about my temporary hair change. Oh Lion! What if it's not temporary?
Running after Peter, I could only pray that the guards didn't get a good look at my hair. It was bad enough having to go to training with it that color, but at least I could put on my helmet and hide it that way. I was so busy wondering if I could get away with wearing my helmet until Martil and Silvo figured out how to get my hair back to normal that I ran into Peter when he stopped just inside the armory. "Ow! Peter, what did you stop for?"
Peter didn't answer instead he just gestured for me to take a look at the armory around us. Correction, he wanted me to look at the empty armory around us. I frowned a moment then I almost moved my mouth into a grin as I realized we might be able to sneak back into the castle without Oreius noticing...well, he did notice everything, so maybe without him being too annoyed with our absence. Of course, my ever-noble prat of a brother ruined my half-formed plan by setting a hand on my shoulder again and nodding to where our armor was waiting for us. "Come on, Ed. We might as well get it over with...besides we'd never be able to sneak back in without being noticed by someone."
He had a point...how unfortunate for us both. We quickly helped each other into our armor, but when we reached for our helmets, they were gone. Peter and I exchanged a somewhat panicked look as we realized that whoever was responsible for our new hair color had either come down here and removed our helmets themselves or had an accomplice assist them. Even Peter sighed as he grabbed Rhindon and his shield while I grabbed Shafhelm and my shield and then we trudged into the training yard to meet our doom.
Only Oreius and Captain Cletus were in the yard. The stray thought that Katerina should have been there too darted through my mind only for as long as it took our teachers to turn at our approach. For one painfully long moment, two of the Cair's swordmasters gazed at us and our sudden change in coloring in complete silence. Then a distinctly feminine voice broke the silence...and our teachers' composure. "There's something different about you two this morning."
Kat. Somehow, I managed to quit staring at the incredulous sight of Oreius and Cletus nearly falling over themselves from the force of their laughter and fixed a glare on Kat. She was leaning against one of the columns lining the yard and she was completely unfazed by the fact that she was being glared at by both of Narnia's Kings. Even though she knew we were simply Sir Peter Wolfsbane and Sir Edmund of the How inside the yard, she still could have shown some hint of well, probably not remorse, but something. Kat was an interesting person to know, but that morning I was not happy to know her at all. Especially when she gave us a rather unrepentant grin before holding up our helmets and tilting her head slightly as she stated, "Maybe you two should put these on. I think I might go blind if I look at your hair for much longer."
I hate her. Based on the mischievous look she was giving me, Kat must have been the one who did this to us. I wanted to ask her how she managed it, but the only thing that made it out of my mouth was a fierce growl. I stalked up to her and snatched my helmet out her hand. I liked Kat a lot better when she was helping me prank Peter and not targeting me along with my brother. Oreius had pulled himself together, although Cletus was still quivering. The General gave Kat a rather amused look before he addressed all three of us in the relatively stern tone he reserved for training. "Wolfsbane, you will spar with Katerina Alambiel. How, you spar with Captain Cletus for now."
For now...meaning Oreius intended for me to spar with whoever won the other match, at least I thought that's what he meant. Cletus finally stopped chuckling as we squared off. Unfortunately, for the Captain, I had plenty to motivate me in this fight. And, for a while, even the horrifying suspicion that my orange hair might be permanent unless I shaved my head had to take a backseat as I concentrated solely on the fight with the Faun Captain. As focused as I was on matching Cletus blow for blow, I still noticed that Kat seemed to be giving Peter a harder time than usual. I ducked at the last minute as Cletus' sword sliced through the air where my head had just been. With his next blow, Cletus knocked my shield loose. That didn't bother me much. I preferred fighting with both hands on Shafhelm anyway.
Free of my shield, I held off Cletus' assault for another few minutes. But, then Peter's shield must have been knocked loose as well because out of the corner of my eye I suddenly saw it go skidding across the ground. Distracted, I didn't block in time and Cletus smacked his hand against my chest, declaring me dead.
The Faun Captain gave me a stern look and signaled for me to wait before he walked over to Oreius. Dismissed from the fight for the moment, I turned to see how things were going between Kat and Peter. My jaw dropped for the second time that morning. Peter had Rhindon and Kat was going after him with her knives. The few times that Kat sparred with Peter in the past, she always used Chrysaor and she wasn't quite able to win those matches, though she came close. But, with her knives...now I could see why Peter and Susan had made the decision to allow Kat to train Lucy. Kat was moving in a swift, fluid, and very aggressive fighting pattern that Peter was being hard-pressed to keep up with.
I was a little surprised at just how aggressively Kat was fighting. I gasped as Kat suddenly knocked aside Rhindon and ducked under Peter's backswing, placing herself well inside his guard. She sheathed one knife as she twisted then she grabbed Peter's outstretched arm and slammed her hip into Peter, knocking him off balance. I couldn't quite see how she did it, but in the next breath, Kat somehow pulled Peter far enough off balance that he fell forward and she twisted out from under his weight in such a way that Peter pitched over her back and landed on the ground on his back.
I could barely believe my eyes as Kat stood over Peter then reached down and declared him dead with a tap to the chest. No wonder Kat was able to spar mainly with our Centaur swordmasters. And, since Kat was teaching Lucy how to handle knives... I would have to think about my next prank for Lucy very carefully. Of course, like any idiot who wanted to die in the immediate future, I had forgotten that our teachers were still present, so I nearly jumped in the air when Oreius suddenly called out from directly behind me. "How, aid Wolfsbane against Katerina Alambiel. No shields."
Susan's words about Kat thrashing us in retaliation for teasing her on Sweetheart's Day slammed into me as I stepped up next to Peter and squared off against Kat. Kat looked at the two of us and then she stared at our helmets like she could see through them to the orange dye. Glancing back down at us, she suddenly smiled. I couldn't help feeling like we were well and truly doomed as Oreius called out for us to begin. I was right.
By the time we were finally dismissed, I must have landed on my back, on my front, on my side, on Peter, etc. more often than I had since Oreius first began training us. Trudging back to the armory, I couldn't even muster the energy to properly glare at Kat's back. Peter and I wearily dropped onto a bench and just rested for a moment. I was beginning to think Kat had been spending too much time with Oreius as company. She was far better at thrashing my idiotic brother and me than I had previously realized. I was not going to let Peter, okay...or myself, tease her at a bad moment again. Now, I just had to figure out how to tell when she was having a bad moment. Trying to figure out how girls worked was something that my mind just did not have the energy to wrap around, and it might be easier to work out a treaty with the Tisroc.
I tugged my helmet off and looked over at Peter to see if his hair had started changing back to normal under the influence of the sweat. It hadn't. It might not have been as glaringly bright as it was earlier though, now its color resembled that of a tormented carrot. I would have laughed but for the thought that mine probably wasn't any better.
I turned to Kat who was about to leave and I finally asked what had been eating at me all that morning. "How?"
She turned back to face us and smirked. "Technically, I didn't do a thing other than carrying your helmets into the training yard. However, when Lucy learned that you two were responsible for my not going to the ball...well, she and Susan were more than happy to help when I mentioned a way to teach the two of you the consequences of forgetting your manners and indulging in ill-thought teasing. I must say the little drop of sleeping draught apparently worked like a charm since the two of you never woke up once while your sisters dyed your hair."
Sleeping draught? Wait, why was I surprised? Kat planned it; of course, she would take extra measures to ensure the success of her prank. I glared at her and growled, "Will it wash out?"
She paused a little too long for my comfort before she nodded, "Yes...well, it should...eventually." She walked away then paused as she drew even with Oreius and Cletus and called over her shoulder. "You two should be grateful. The last time I did this, I dyed the boys' hair a blinding shade of pink. So, it could have been much worse." And, on that cheerful note, she left the armory with Oreius and Cletus.
Peter forced me to leave the helmet in the armory when I would have preferred to wear it on the way up to our rooms. As it was, a number of the guards saw and noticed that their kings were having a very unique bad hair day. We became the joke of the next fortnight. Thank Aslan, Martil and Silvo were waiting to pounce on us as soon as we entered our rooms and they were in their element as they worked on ridding our hair of the ghastly orange dye. I wasn't sure about Peter, but I, for one, could never look at orange items the same way again...and I promised myself to keep Kat on my side during future prank wars.
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A/N: Please Read and Review! So, this is the first time I've tried to write Edmund's POV in first person, hopefully I didn't mess him up too much. Hopefully, y'all actually liked this one shot, it is the consequences the boys faced for teasing Katerina at the wrong time in chapter 13 of Shields. Next up is the revenge pranks on Kat one shot, the epilogue for Shields, and the next chapter of Revealed. Click the little...scratch that, click the blue review button that can probably be seen from space and let me know how I did and if you would like to see something specific in an existing story or a new story/one shot, let me know in your review or via PM and I shall do my best to meet your request.
A/N2: This one shot was brought to you by the Fire Department as they were so kind as to rescue me after I got trapped in an elevator last night.
