"Hmm... Not bad." North hummed as he stroked his beard.
Ashley made a strangled noise before turning and looking up at North bewilderedly. "Not bad? Not bad?!" She turned away from the huge man, like she couldn't even stand to look at him. "You insult me!"
The man gave a hearty laugh before hitting her on her back. "I vas just kidding! Is great, truly."
She bit back a scream as her eyes widened, and she bent forward while putting her hands on her knees. "My spine!" She wheezed. Tooth winced and placed a hand gently on the girl's shoulder as Eros snickered under his breath.
North walked towards one of the reindeer and inspected the armor. It was pretty basic stuff, really, but it was efficient. A horse-or rather, reindeer blanket under a layer of chain mail, to keep the mail from getting caught in the fur or pinching skin. Then, simple plate armor over the chest and rump, neck, and the front of the face. Tribal markings ran across every piece of plate armor, and were a few shades darker than the metal. It was a nice touch... And the reindeer didn't seem to be encumbered by the armor at all, which was more than he had hoped for.
As North observed the reindeer, oohing and aahing, a low rumble akin to thunder cracked in the ice cave. Ashley straightened up and looked to side to see, who else, Slendy.
"Ah, there you are," Ashley said with a roll of her eyes. "I figured you were about due. So, anything else that's absolutely enthralling to tell me...? Do ya wanna run over my soul with a hummer, maybe...?"
Slendy paused and cocked his faceless head to the side. "I... What is this hummer that you speak of...? What..." He shook his head. "Never mind it. I am not here for you, young one. I come with news for Eros. He said that he wished for me to keep him informed..."
The girl raised an eyebrow. Well...
Eros stepped forward, being uncharacteristically serious. "What is it, sir?"
"Things are not getting better," Slendy informed the winged man solemnly. "Rebellion was wounded. Without him, fear is becoming stronger... The humans are very tense, now. North Korea has announced a missile testing, and many humans want to simply bomb North Korea and be done with it. And we are all aware of what will happen if this is the path the humans decide to follow... We need assistance, but we have none. It is a horrible battle, but we have lost none... yet."
The ginger winced and scratched at the scruff of his neck. "Shit." He muttered lowly.
Ashley looked between Eros to Slendy, before stopping her eyes at Slendy and waving her arms around incredulously. "Am I invisible or something?! Hello!I'm right here, yo! Spirit of courage-ring a bell? I could help you!"
"You are not strong en-"
"-Bull shit!" She told him frustratedly, slamming her trident on the ground. "I have a score to settle with this ass, Pitch. He is goin' down."
Slendy heaved a sigh and leaned down to be more level with her face. "Believe me, young one... This is not something you would want to be in. If you saw how terrible things are, you would immediately wish you would have listened to me, and stayed out of the war until you were truly ready."
"War ain't a pretty sight," Bunnymund agreed, "I reckon it'd be better if you avoided it as long as you could... I'm not quite sure you're ready, Ash..."
She shouldn't have felt insulted, and Ashley knew that. But she did, all the same. She had been in her fair share of fights-hell, she had won three first place trophies and one second place trophy in boxing tournaments, before she quit after being knocked out by some four hundred pound she-man! She had just barely fended off a mugger once, and had to hold her guts in while staggering to a hospital! She had freaking died! How was she not ready?!
Maybe it was her pride. Maybe it was her stubbornness. But being told that she wasn't ready just really irked her. So, she turned to Eros and gave him a look. "Eros... Ginger... You know you guys need help. I'm the spirit of courage. I can kill the fearlings, easy. We don't have to stay there long. Just a quick reinforcement, to give your guys a bit of a rest, and then we can fly outta there."
If Slendy could have frowned, he would have. "Ashley." He rumbled, warning in his usually mellow voice. He started to say something else, but stopped suddenly and his head shifted a bit like he was listening to something. A crease formed between where eyebrows would be, and he gave a heavy, almost sad sigh. "I cannot stop you..." He straightened up. "Eros, take her to the battlefield. You know where it is."
As soon as Slendy said that, everyone jerked in surprise. Except for Sandy... He had remained neutral, except for the flashes of... guilt...? In his eyes...
"Vhat?! You have just told her she could not go! Vhy the change of heart?!" North questioned. At this question, Slendy led North away from the group.
"I do not want her to." Slendy said quietly, an almost mournful tone in his voice. "But fate has other plans. There is something... Something that must happen, and it will, no matter what anyone does to prevent it. I have seen all outcomes, and to do this would be best for her."
North frowned and looked back at Ashley, who was watching the two of them curiously. He looked back over at Slendy and frowned. "Something bad vill happen, yes?"
Slendy nodded. "Yes. Do not try to stop it, North. It will only worsen the matter. The only thing you can do for her is to go to the battle with her and Eros. Will you?"
The huge man suddenly looked much older. His seemed so much more weary, and his eyes lost some of its sparkle. North didn't want to, but... when told by him to do something, one does it. "I suppose so..."
The Slenderman-esque being nodded, and with a flash of light and a distant rumble, he was gone.
North cleared his throat and quickly composed himself, setting his face with a determined look before turning to the rest of the group and clapping his hands together. "Ve have fight on our hands. Eros, you take Ashvey and ve vill support you from zhe back as needed."
Bunnymund furrowed his eyebrows together and frowned. "What? I thought... I thought we were against Ash goin'! Why the change of heart, mate? I thought you were with me on this!"
North gave the rabbit a look. It simply said 'we must do this, no questions asked'. North had never given Bunnymund such an intense look as that... So, against his better judgement, the old pooka decided to follow North's lead.
Ashley... Well, she didn't quite know what to make of all of it. She wasn't glad that she had gotten her way. Her dad had told her stories of his father in World War I, she wasn't stupid... But she was comforted in the fact that they didn't think her incapable of helping. Because she really did want to help... and kick this Pitch guy's ass. But just... the looks she had caught from North kind of... unnerved her.
Or maybe that was just her insides twisting with fear at the fact that Eros was flying her...
Ashley dropped to the ground with a yelp, and a meek 'oops!' voiced above her. She rolled to her side and used her trident to push herself up.
"I hate you." Ashley grumbled sourly, before looking around.
The sky was dark and gloomy. Eros had taken her to a huge field that seemed to stretch on for miles, with golden grasses that moved with the wind.
Eros grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her. "Come on. The guys are this way."
The two walked back a bit, until she caught sight of six people hanging around a fire, near the treeline. Eros walked past her to talk to them, and Ashley realized with a start that there was dried blood on the ground before following Eros. She heard the sleigh land behind her, and North grunt as he hopped out onto the ground.
"Ve have come to assist you, friends!" North bellowed as he walked forwards, besides Ashley. "Just as you have once assisted us!"
One scrawny, rather scraggly looking man with black hair, stubble, and a scrape on his temple scoffed. "You must be mistaken, North. We've never helped you..." He only had on some baggy jean shorts and some Nike's. His whole torso, both his arms, and his neck was covered in tattoos. He had an AR 15 at his side, and a cigarette in his mouth.
North placed his massive hand on Ashley's shoulder. "Not you specifically, but... one of you helped us. In fact, if that one did not help us, ve vould not be here today."
"So stop whining and just say 'thank you,' Nate." Eros finished. The man grunted shortly before snapping a twig and throwing it into the fire.
A woman that was around Ashley's age, maybe older, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes stood up and walked over. She studied Ashley a bit, cocking her head to the side. "You're the new spirit of courage?" Ashley nodded. "I imagined you to be... taller. But still, it's great to have another girl around!"
The woman hugged her, and Ashley froze up. What the hell, she thought to herself before shrugging it off and awkwardly patting the other woman's back, looking around for help. "Uh, yeah... nice to meet you too... I'm Ashley."
The woman pulled away and beamed. "I'm Alice! The spirit of curiosity-What happened to your face?"
Ashley shot Eros a look before saying slowly, "I got in a car crash... Uh, do you mind... giving me a little space...?"
Alice jumped up, like she had forgotten about the aspect of personal space. "Oh! Right, sorry..."
Ashley shrugged in response. "It's alright. So, why are you guys out here? I mean, I kinda figured that the fight would be in a city..."
"It's because we've been trying to keep your ass safe!" Nate spat from his seat, only to get elbowed in the side by the huge black man besides him.
"Lay off, Nate." The man rumbled. It was a three word sentence, but it shut Nate up right quick. The man was in a ratty old sleeveless shirt that had stains, and plain brown work pants, no shoes. He had ebony skin and was clean shaven with hazel green eyes and short, ginger hair. Almost like Eros' hair, except a few shades darker. The man looked up at Ashley and nodded once in greeting before gesturing to himself. "'M Francisco. Spirit of freedom. Nate's the spirit of sin."
"It's not sin, yo!" Nate scowled. "It's balance! I'm the motherfuckin' spirit of balance, damnit!"
Francisco smirked at the much smaller man before looking over at Ashley and patting the ground besides him.
Ashley glanced back at the Guardians behind her before shrugging and plopping onto the ground. Alice cleared her throat before announcing loudly, "Everyone! This is Ashley! The girl that Vergil chose to be the next spirit of courage! Be nice, be polite... Especially you, Nate."
"I'm the politest and nicest guy I know!" Nate snickered before snorting and spitting a loogie into the fire, making it crackle and pop.
The man across from Nate made a disgusted face. "Lovely..." He was a middle-aged man, with graying hair, stubble, and tired eyes. He was in a gray pinstripe suit that must have had one of the arms ripped off by a fearling. His one bare arm had bright purple bruises on it. He gave a small wave to Ashley. "Hey, I'm David. The spirit of common sense..."
Ashley couldn't help but say a smart comment. "Oh, common sense, eh? Where've you been the past four years?" Maybe he'd end up hating her, but oh well.
Luckily for her, he didn't. In fact, he laughed. "I ask myself that all the time, kid, believe me... You're alright. I'll give you that."
The guy besides David looked at her, studying her closely. "Yer kinda small..." He had a healthy gut, biceps bigger than her head, and a full beard with a handlebar mustache. He had small, round glasses, and a blacksmith's apron over a soot-streaked t-shirt, as well as thick leather gloves. Jeans, and a small-er-ish sledgehammer that had one end come to a brutal spike hung on his belt. "But you seem alright, I guess... I'm Vulcan. Spirit a' creation. I'd introduce you to the Cap'n Sea-Blood, but he's wandered off again..."
Raising an eyebrow, she started to ask who this 'Cap'n' person was, but was cut off by a rough voice that came from above. "Ahoy, mates! There be the bastardous fearlings on the horizon!"
Ashley saw a flash through the trees from the corner of her eye, and heard a loud thump before turning to see what in the hell that was.
Turns out, it was a pirate, of all things. Ashley could scarcely believe her eyes as the tall, stout man stood up, and a freaking lemur crawled around his torso onto his shoulder. The man had an eye patch over his right eye, and was in one of those white, poofy shirts that pirates wear in the movies under a black vest with gold lining and buttons. A scar ran under his other eye. A curved sword hung on his belt, and he had the knee high black boots that had light tan trousers tucked into them. But, that was where the pirate resemblance stopped, because he was... well, he was kind of attractive, actually. Windswept hair that was a mix between gold and bronze, and jagged facial hair that lined his chin.
The man pulled out a one of those old-timey pistols and his sword and stepped forward, mouth opening into a battle cry, only to have his face twist with pain as he collapsed to the ground, spitting and swearing as Vulcan ran to help the man.
"You damn fool, Cap'n!" The bearded man scolded, "Yer still hurt!"
"Blast it all, I can still fight! I can still fight better than all of ye put together!" He tried to take another step, only to grimace and lean down as he clutched his abdomen. "Damnit!"
Alice went over as well to help the cursing pirate. "Calm down, Captain!"
The man, apparently 'Captain Sea-Blood' got red in the face as he snarled. "I'll calm down when I've gone six feet under, ye swab! I'll calm down when the fate of the world ain't at stake!"
Ashley stood up and twirled her trident in her hand. "Don't you worry, bud. We've got it, this round. You just calm down and try not to hurt yourself."
"And just who do ye think ye are?!"
She cracked her neck before shrugging one shoulder. "No one special... Just the spirit of courage and the Guardians of childhood." She smirked when a look of shock overcame the Captain's face, and turned, strolling leisurely to line up with the Guardians in front of the sleigh.
Taking place between Bunnymund and Tooth, she tightened one of the straps on her shield before looking over at the approaching stampede of fearlings.
"It's time to fuck shit up." Ashley hummed in a singsong voice.
Jack Frost froze a fearling solid, and took a brief second to grin to himself triumphantly before turning. He jerked back as he came face to face with another fearling, features twisted darkly at him mid-leap. It was too late for the teen to do anything, and he knew it as he held up his staff protectively and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the beast to crash into him with the force of a sixteen-wheeler.
But nothing came. Jack opened his eyes, only to see the fearling, inches away. It stood stone-still, before collapsing to it's side, trident embedded into the side of the fearling. As the nightmare burst into light, he looked over and saw Ashley.
She grinned at the teen and gave a two fingered salute before turning to take another on, only to stop short at the realization that she had thrown her only freaking weapon, shit!
Two more fearlings caught sight of the girl, and snorted angrily before charging at her. Seeing no other option, she smashed the closest one in the face before leaping out of the other nightmare's way. She rolled to her feet and got ready to tackle the thing, only to a stop. It was a few feet away, frozen in mid-jump. Her trident stuck into the ground in front of her.
"You stole my kill, Frost!" Ashley complained before turning and slicing another nightmare in the side, briefly shielding her eyes as it rolled to the dirt and exploded into light.
The winter spirit laughed and gave a two fingered salute in a mocking manner. "You're welcome!" He sang before flying away.
She scoffed and shook her head. "I didn't need my trident anyways..." Her skin sprouted with fur as she grew taller and thicker, until she was a bear. She stopped for a moment to watch in fascination as her trident melted into a gold liquid and seep into her feet. Huh... so that's what happens to her trident... It probably should have freaked her out, but... she didn't really have the right to freak out. She had just turned into a bear, after all...
The huge white bear stood on her hind legs and let out a roar before running into the thick of the fearlings. She slammed into them, slashed them, and, at one point, bit one... only to immediately spit it out in disgust.
"You guys are pains in the ass!" She snarled as she slammed one to the ground before stomping on it's head with her massive paw. "The least you could do is taste good! But do I get that?! Nooo..."
She tore through those fearlings faster than she could tear through a pot of coffee. And that was fast... Together, the Guardians and Ashley thinned the ranks of nightmares.
It had almost appeared as though they were winning...
But they weren't.
Ashley heard a shout, and looked up. She shrunk down, and her fur melted away until she was human again. Picking up her trident, she stood up straight as a huge, inky shadow ran across the field, ever closer. As the shadow grew closer, the huge wall of black grew taller. A hushed silence filled the air as a light breeze ran through the air.
She wasn't sure what it was at first... A huge tsunami wave, maybe...?
Unfortunately, she wasn't that lucky... As it got closer, she realized that thousands of thousands of little orange lights were in the tsunami wave. It wasn't a wave caused by shifting tectonic plates. It was a nuclear bomb. But instead of fire and radiation, it had nightmares. A lot of nightmares.
"Holy shit, man." She muttered as the wall of nightmares reared up. She was the closest one to the wave of fearlings, and they had all set their targets on her. "That's a lot of ponies..."
There was a roar of screams as they closed in on her, like all the banshees in the world had joined in a choir. If the situation weren't so dire, and if she'd had one, Ashley would have turned a stereo on some nice rock and put the volume up as loud as it could go before putting it right next to her poor, poor ears.
However, she couldn't do that. So, she did the only thing she could. She held up her trident, shielded her face as best she could, and let out a battle cry as she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for death.
But it didn't come. Which meant that, unfortunately, she still had to suffer the fearling's incessant and highly unnecessary screeching. But she was more focused on the fact that she wasn't dead.
She should have been freaking out when she saw why she wasn't dead. But hey, living was living. She was not gonna complain... There was a strange bubble around her, that faintly glowed, and dulled the stupid nightmares screeching. Not by a lot, but it was still a hell of a lot better than nothing... The fearlings raced and circled the bubble, and every once in awhile one would slam into it.
With every hit, Ashley would wince, and she felt a bit weaker. Then she began noticing the cracks. And, she... well, she panicked a bit. Her palms got sweaty as she looked around for an escape.
There weren't any... And the idea to slam into her little personal-space bubble seemed to be getting more and more popular with the fearlings. More cracks began forming, and she got more exhausted with every hit on her bubble. Her adrenaline raced as black sand began seeping through the larger cracks.
She couldn't go out like this! She already died once! That had traumatized Zach enough, imagine how bad it would be if she went and died on him again! It would traumatize the poor kid!
Her bubble began to shrink, so she used her trident to try to keep it from growing smaller. It helped, but not much... It helped delay it while she tried to think of something to do...
Claustrophobia began setting in, and she tried to take calming breaths to keep her cool.
It didn't work... Her bubble just kept getting smaller and smaller, and she kept getting more and more panicked as more black sand poured in. The sand just barely reached her ankles, now.
Ashley finally snapped. Her chest felt like a rubber band stretched too tight, and she let out a roar as the bubble got so small she had to crouch down, and it... Well, the bubble more or less exploded.
It was so bright, she had to cover her eyes, and the burst of wind damn near threw her on her butt.
Ashley opened her eyes, only to have her jaw drop. "Ho-Lee Shit." She looked back at the Guardians and grinned tiredly. "Yeah baby!" She cheered. Sandy gave her a thumbs up, as Bunnymund and Tooth all but fainted with relief. "That's how I roll! Can I take a nap, now?"
Sandy started to nod, only to stop as his eyes widened. Everyone else got this look, and Ashley cocked her head to the side.
"What? Is there something on my face...? Is it a spider?!" She reached up and felt around, but didn't find anything. She glanced back behind her, since that seemed to be where they were looking, only to have her face drop into an expression of extreme unamusement. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me..."
Another wave of fearlings crashed over her, but this time her little personal bubble didn't come to help her. Her whole body stung for a moment, before it all went to black...
This just wasn't her day...
Author's Note~
Glob, writing the next chapter is gonna kill me... You'll see why. It's... nngh-not very good. I'm not planning for it to be, anywho...
So, thanks so much for reading! Appreciate all the favorites and follows and junk you guys are doing. I'm not gonna lie, when I first submitted this story, I kind of expected people to hate it. But you don't (at least, I think you don't) and that makes me feel fuzzy inside. So gracias c:
Tell me if I made any mistakes in here, and as always-I hope you got a few laughs out of my goofy little tale :)
,BlueAsh666