In the orphanage, something Scarlett had learned quickly was that she always had to have a weapon on hand. It wasn't that the people in charge hurt her, no, never. Well, except for the old headmaster but he was fired a few weeks after Scarlett went to live there. No, the problem was that the orphanage hadn't always be known as 'Forgotten Girls Orphanage'. No, it was originally the 'Home of Lost Boys and Girls'.
And some of the older boys were a little rambunctious, to say the least. Most of the time it wasn't intentional, but they were always a little too rough when playing with the younger kids. Scarlett in particular. It was little things, like when a boy would accidentally push Scarlett a little too hard when they were playing tag or just running around. But there was one guy in particular who always seemed to take pleasure in hurting people, Kevin Matthews.
Especially the small, scared redhead who wasn't that great at standing up for herself. Scarlett told Mrs. Bennett, but all it did was get Kevin in trouble, which made him retaliate against Scarlett. Since that didn't work, Mr. Bennett (who will get his own one-shot eventually) pulled Scarlett aside.
"Don't tell Nessa that I bought you this. It's not real, just a prop like they use in movies. But that Kevin kid won't know any better. If he tries anything, pull it out. And if tells Ms. Leigh or Mrs. Crux, then just explain that it's fake. Okay?"
And with that, Scarlett now owned a trick dagger. Even though she knew it was fake, whenever she put the knife under her pillow every night, it brought her some comfort. Once Kevin caught sight of it, Scarlett had a much easier time growing up in the orphanage. Or at least, as easy as it could be in a dreary place like that. Especially when they made it a girls-only orphanage and Kevin finally left for good.
However, now that she was a Guardian, she thought that maybe she should upgrade to an actual weapon and not something that just looked like one.
Lucky for her, Ash had an entire room filled with weapons. Swords, crossbows, regular bows, with plenty of arrows and quivers to spare, shields, spears, bo staffs, axes, maces, sais, nunchucks- well, you get the idea. A couple of guns too but bullets really didn't affect spirits or immortal beings too much unless they were made with Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold. *Leave a review if you know what that references to*
"Why do you have so many weapons? Do you use them all?" Scarlett asked once Ash had shown her around the entire room. The redhead had to admit that the small cottage Ash lived in was pretty nice and a lot bigger than it looked from the outside.
"When I don't forget to bring them, yes. I use them to practice, so I can use them if I happen across one or I'm able to makeshift one in battle. I liked to be prepared," Ash admitted as she pulled a small bracelet. "I invented this after the last battle with Pitch. It'll materialize a weapon made for short periods of time. I can make you one too, but in the meantime, you should figure out what you want to fight with."
"Well, I thought since I had my scepter, maybe I could fight with a bo staff," Scarlett planned on using her scepter if she had to fight (something she hoped she wouldn't have to do very often) but she wasn't sure if she'd always have it with her. It was a hassle to travel with it, especially to fly.
"Sounds good. I kind of want to practice using the new boomerangs Bunny carved with me. I have some targets I can set up outside and some training dummies we could use," Ash suggested.
"Hmm. Bunny make you some boomerangs? I never pegged you two as the couple who needed his-and-her things, especially weapons," Scarlett teased. Ash's face turned red before she cleared her throat and looked away.
"We aren't!" Ash exclaimed. "He just wanted to add onto my weapon collection. Besides, you and Jack are the ones who both have staffs/scepters as your conduits!"
"Not by choice," Scarlett reminded her as she grabbed a wooden bo staff. Then she spotted a metal one that wasn't too heavy to pick up. "Wood or metal?"
"Wood is easier for us. Spring and Autumn are all about nature, including trees. So, it's easier for us to just summon vines like I did when we were sparring the other day. That way, we can fix the staff if it breaks into two. Just need two vines to pull the wood back together again."
"Gotcha."
About two hours later, Scarlett could say that she was pretty good at using the bo staff. She could also say with complete certainty that she was exhausted. As was Ash, who was just thankful that her boyfriend wasn't there to see how much she struggled to throw the boomerang at the perfect angle. It would've been too embarrassing.
On the bright side, at least Scarlett had a new weapon she could use. Add all the self-defense she'd learned in the past few months and Scarlett could almost say she was ready for combat. Though she really, really, hoped that she wouldn't have to put her new-found skills to the test anytime soon.
AN: Okay, I promise that the next one-shot will have Bunny in it. But, in case the title didn't give it away, this is mostly about the Seasonals. I will try to incorporate Bunny and the Guardians since, you know, it's a Rise of the Guardians fanfic and such. And don't think you've seen the last of the Burgess kids or Mrs. Bennett. They'll be back. I want to say they'll be back in chapter five if all goes according to plan.
- Kitkat Out!
